drop a dime meaning (slang): definition, etymology and quotations

drop a dime

verb

Etymology See dime § Etymology 2

Idiomatic, Slang To make a telephone call.

Slang, With on To inform, to call the authorities (on).

Near-synonyms: give [someone] up, give [someone] away; spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag
He was in the back for a few minutes. Turned out he was dropping a dime on Ralph.

2 more examples

We got a crowd of black, white customers, out-of-state license plates, what have you. Somebody gonna check that out. They gonna drop a dime on me, call 911. And you know with my jacket I can't go back to jail.1995 September 13, Richard Price, Spike Lee, 00:27:05 from the start, in Clockers, spoken by Rodney Little (Delroy Lindo), 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks; distributed by Universal Pictures:
Who dropped a dime to that newspaper reporter, Your Honor?2002 July 14, Rafael Alvarez, “One Arrest” (11:51 from the start), in The Wire, season 1, episode 7 (television production), spoken by Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), via HBO: