drop
nounUK /dɹɒp/ · US /dɹɑp/
Etymology
From Late Middle English droppe, Middle English drope (“small quantity of liquid; small or least amount of something; pendant jewel; dripping of a liquid; a shower; nasal flow, catarrh; speck, spot; blemish; disease causing spots on the skin”) [and other forms], from Old English dropa (“a drop”), from Proto-West Germanic *dropō (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop (of liquid)”),, from *dreupaną (“to drip, droop”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to drip, drop”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Droupe, Druppe (“drop”), Dutch drop, drup (“droplet”), German Tropfen (“drop”), German Low German Drüpp (“drop”), Luxembourgish Drëps (“drop”), Vilamovian tropa, troppa (“drop”), Yiddish טראָפּן (tropn, “drop”), Danish dråbe (“drop”), Faroese and Icelandic dropi (“drop”), Norwegian Bokmål dråpe (“drop”), Norwegian Nynorsk drope (“drop”), Swedish droppe (“drop”).
43 senses
- 1A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold…
- 2A dose of liquid medicine in the form of a drop (sense 1).
- 3A liquid medicine that is intended to be administered in…
- 4A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything.
- 5A small amount of an alcoholic beverage.
- 6Usually preceded by the: alcoholic spirits in general.
- 7A single measure of whisky.
- 8Often preceded by a defining word: a small, round piece…
- 9An ornament resembling a pendant; a gutta.
- 10The cover mounted on a swivel over a keyhole that rests…
- 11A fruit which has fallen off a tree, etc., or has been…
- 12A dropped pass.
- 13A trapdoor (“hinged platform”) on a gallows; a gallows itself.
- 14An item made available for the player to pick up from…
- 15A mechanism for lowering something, such as a machine…
- 16An overhead electrical line running from a utility pole…
- 17Ellipsis of drop hammer or drop press.
- 18A curtain which falls in front of a theatrical stage…
- 19An act of moving downwards under the force of gravity; a…
- 20An instance of making a delivery of people, supplies, or…
- 21A release (of music, a video game, etc).
- 22The amount of money that a gambler exchanges for chips…
- 23Preceded by the: execution by hanging.
- 24Usually preceded by the: relegation from one division to…
- 25Ellipsis of drop-back.
- 26Ellipsis of drop target.
- 27Ellipsis of drop kick.
- 28Ellipsis of drop shot.
- 29A near vertical descent down the face of a breaking wave.
- 30An unsolicited credit card issue.
- 31A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate.
- 32Of men's clothes: the difference between the chest…
- 33Of women's clothes: the difference between the bust…
- 34The distance below a cliff or other high position…
- 35The vertical length of a hanging curtain.
- 36The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.
- 37The distance that a person drops when being executed by hanging.
- 38The depth of a (square) sail (generally applied to the…
- 39A place where items or supplies may be left for others…
- 40Only used in get the drop on, have the drop on: an advantage.
- 41A point in a song, usually electronic music such as…
- 42An automobile with a drop-top roof, a convertible.
- 43A place (specified by an ordinal) in the batting order…
Also, Figuratively A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid.
- Put three drops of oil into the mixture.
- A circular horizontal surface of indefinite diameter gave a drop of water weighing 2·10 grains. This is therefore the weight of the maximum drop formed on a flat surface, and it will be seen that it very nearly coincides with the weight of the drop formed upon a surface seven-tenths of an inch diameter. The drop in this case is always formed at the centre of the surface, this being the centre of the greatest molecular attraction amongst the liquid particles.1864 March, T[homas] Tate, “XXX. On the Magnitude of a Drop of Liquid Formed under Different Circumstances.”, in David Brewster, Robert Kane, William Francis, editors, The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, volume XXVII (4th Series), number 181, London: Taylor and Francis, […]; sold by Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green; […], →OCLC, pages 178–179:
Medicine, Pharmacology, Sciences Also, Figuratively A dose of liquid medicine in the form of a drop (sense 1).
- My first treatment consisted of one eye drop in each eye which was supposed to determine the condition of the eye and make it easier to examine them the next day.1986, Eugene Tinory, Journey from Ammeah: The Story of a Lebanese Immigrant, Brattleboro, Vt.: Amana Books, →ISBN, page 96:
- The eye is able to hold only about 20 percent of the amount of fluid in a standard eye drop. Therefore, put only one eye drop in your eye at a time. If you have been instructed to use more than one eye drop, wait about 5 minutes between the drops. This will allow more of the drops to be absorbed and will reduce waste.2009, Mark A[llan] Goldstein, Myrna Chandler Goldstein, Larry P. Credit, “Glaucoma [Tipes for Using Eye Drops]”, in Your Best Medicine: From Conventional and Complementary Medicine—Expert-endorsed Therapeutic Solutions to Relieve Symptoms and Speed Healing, New York, N.Y.: Rodale Books, →ISBN, part 2 (The Best Medicine for 81 Common Health Concerns), page 234, column 1:
Medicine, Pharmacology, Sciences Also, Figuratively, In plural A liquid medicine that is intended to be administered in drops (sense 1).
- ear drops eye drops
Figuratively A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything.
- My aunt asked for just a drop more tea.
- He was thirsty but there wasn’t a drop of water to be found
3 more examples
- They didn’t show a drop of remorse
- BAZARIN: Zoya Sergeevna, just a drop more tea, if you would. / ZOYA SERGEEVNA: (pouring tea) Do you want it strong?1994, Yvonne Howell, “Introduction”, in Apocalyptic Realism: The Science Fiction of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (Russian and East European Studies in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Culture; 1), New York, N.Y.: Peter Lang, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 1:
- Finally she landed the role, and glory be to God, her best friend Melanie landed the role of Anne's best friend. Not one drop of help did she get from her showbiz parents, who were far too preoccupied with the shape of twenty-four table centre-pieces, […]2008, Maureen Lipman, “Bar Mitzvah Joy”, in Past-It Notes, London: Aurum Press, published 2013, →ISBN:
Australia, UK, Figuratively A small amount of an alcoholic beverage.
- He usually enjoys a drop after dinner. She won’t touch a drop while she’s on duty.
UK, Figuratively Usually preceded by the: alcoholic spirits in general.
- It doesn’t matter where you’re from, anyone who enjoys the drop is a friend of mine.
- She is rather fond of her drops, and is then particularly good-humoured; it is only when she is getting sober that she is querulous and nervous.1834, Peregrine Reedpen [pseudonym], “The Survey Continued. Odds and Ends.”, in Our Town; or, Rough Sketches of Character, Manners, &c. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 61:
Ireland, Figuratively, Informal A single measure of whisky.
› That which hangs or resembles a liquid…
Often preceded by a defining word: a small, round piece of hard candy, such as a lemon drop or piece of licorice; a lozenge.
Architecture An ornament resembling a pendant; a gutta.
› A thing which drops or hangs down.
The cover mounted on a swivel over a keyhole that rests over the keyhole when not in use to keep out debris, but is swiveled out of the way before inserting the key.
Agriculture, Business, Lifestyle A fruit which has fallen off a tree, etc., or has been knocked off accidentally, rather than picked.
- Drops are another source of juice apple supply. As the pickers pick apples in orchards oriented toward fresh-market or canning apples, apples fall or are accidentally knocked to the ground; these are drops. The only use for drops is juice production.1986 June, “Information Obtained in the Investigation”, in Apple Juice: Report to the President on Investigation No. TA-201-59 under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 (USITC Publication; 1861), Washington, D.C.: United States International Trade Commission, →OCLC, page A-2:
- Drops are fruit that has fallen to the ground naturally or that is dropped or knocked off during harvest. Drops have no value except for pressing for juice. While the value of drops is usually minimal, they must be removed from the orchards; otherwise, they attract mice which later in the season, once the apples are gone, gnaw on the roots of apple trees.1993, United States Commission on Agricultural Workers, “The Apple Industry in New York and Pennsylvania”, in Case Studies and Research Reports Prepared for the Commission on Agricultural Workers 1989–1993 to Accompany the Report of the Commission: Appendix I, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 387, column 1:
3 more examples
- But in the fall, when apples are abundant and cheap, I like to make my own [applesauce]. I'll often buy a few bags of "drops" just for this purpose. Drops are apples that have fallen from the trees instead of being picked. They're less expensive since they might have a bruise or two, but otherwise they're fresh nd juicy.2002, Ken Haedrich, “Very Apple Apple Pies”, in Apple Pie: 100 Delicious and Decidedly Different Recipes for America’s Favorite Pie, Boston, Mass.: The Harvard Common Press, →ISBN, page 97, column 1:
- Biologically based IPM goes further by integrating orchard practices for common gain. Thus, in a second-level IPM orchard, sprays are withheld after June to allow beneficial insect populations to rebuild; summer maggot fly incursions are trapped at the border; drops are removed to limit in-orchard pest pupation; and fall sanitation is used to reduce disease inoculum the following spring.2005 October, Michael Phillips, “Growing Apples Locally”, in The Apple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist, revised edition, White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 3:
- Drops are often considered the same as windfalls, and some people insist that any fruit that has fallen to the ground—no matter for how short a time—should not be used for making cider. […] Drops, on the other hand [unlike windfalls], are fruits that have sat around on the ground for a longer period of time—typically a day or more.2009, Ben Watson, Cider, Hard and Sweet: History, Traditions, and Making Your Own, 2nd edition, Woodstock, Vt.: The Countryman Press, →ISBN, page 54, column 1:
American football, Ball games, Football, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A dropped pass.
- Yet another drop for the Tiger tight end.
Government, Law enforcement A trapdoor (“hinged platform”) on a gallows; a gallows itself.
- […] and lo! the gallows is built up; the solemn bell tolls through the dismal gray of the early morning, the drop creaks under the guilty feet, and the penalty of crime is paid.1862, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret:
- She. Have you ever seen a man hanged? He. Yes. Once. She. What was it for? He. Murder, of course. She. Murder. Is that so great a sin after all? I wonder how he felt before the drop fell.1889, Rudyard Kipling, “The Hill of Illusion”, in Under the Deodars, Boston: The Greenock Press, published 1899, page 84:
2 more examples
- As the prisoners prepared to leave, they had seen Dan and Steve standing together in the breezeway, ‘for all the world like two condemned prisoners on the drop’.2003, Ian Jones, Ned Kelly: A Short Life, revised edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Hachette Australia, published 2010, →ISBN:
- Crook: "I'll find the killers for you, I swear." / Cop: "So why didn't you?" / Crook: "I'm scared of 'em." / Cop: "More than the drop?" / Crook: "Aye. Maybe."2015 November 25, Benjamin Ross, Barry Langford, “All the Lost Children” (26:40 from the start), in The Frankenstein Chronicles, season 1, episode 3:
Games, Gaming, Video games Internet An item made available for the player to pick up from the remains of a defeated enemy.
Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Technology A mechanism for lowering something, such as a machine for lowering heavy weights on to a ship's deck, or a device for temporarily lowering a gas jet, etc.
Communications, Electrical engineering, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Technology, Telecommunications An overhead electrical line running from a utility pole to a customer's building or other premises.
- Do a drop for the telephone gang, then another drop for the Internet gang, both through the ceiling of the wiring closet.
Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Technology Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of drop hammer or drop press.
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Theater A curtain which falls in front of a theatrical stage; also, a section of (cloth) scenery lowered on to the stage like a curtain.
- La Cage's upstage drops include two of the St. Tropez harbor (one for the day and another for the night), [... an] ocean drop (used in an Act I dream sequence), and an abstract chandelier drop (used in the second act[…]).1983, Theatre Crafts, New York, N.Y.: Theatre Crafts Associates, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 61, column 1:
- In The Rover, one of these esthetically important elements was the arrangement of the upstage drops. Originally the drop was split into three sections, with obvious and blatant seams between them.2007, Michele Fields, Designing The Rover (unpublished M.F.A. dissertation), Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin–Madison, →OCLC:
› An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
An act of moving downwards under the force of gravity; a descent, a fall.
- That was a long drop, but fortunately I didn’t break any bones.
- The slope of the terrain, shaped like a funnel, squeezed the growing swell of churning snow into a steep, twisting gorge. It moved in surges, like a roller coaster on a series of drops and high-banked turns.2012, John Branch, “Snow fall: The avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Feb 2021:
An instance of making a delivery of people, supplies, or things, especially by parachute out of an aircraft (an airdrop), but also by truck, etc.
- The delivery driver has to make three more drops before lunch.
- The spy made the drop, leaving the plans under the tree as arranged.
1 more example
- That was how a drug deal went down? […] Karl shook his head and pulled away from the curb, heading for his next drop and feeling distinctly uncomfortable about the mass of cash now keeping the drugs in his bags company.2020, Arlana Crane, Mordecai's Ashes:
A release (of music, a video game, etc).
- 2002 saw the drop of a new album whose title riffed on the many magazine cover stories calling Sum 41's music infectious.2004, L. S., “Sum 41”, in Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard, editors, The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (A Fireside Book), 4th edition, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 792, column 1:
- Turned out this was the drop party for popster Effigy's latest release, BeatMeKickMeHoldMe.2020 January, Stephen Wright, Processed Cheese, ebook edition, New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN:
- What the first column in the table shows you is how much the casinos won as a percentage of the drop. For example, on the roulette table for every $100 that went into the drop box the casino wonj $22.70 or 22.70%. […] In other words, the drop tells you how many chips were bought at that table, but it doesn't tell you how many bets were made with those chips.1996, Steve Bourie, Anthony Curtis [et al.], American Casino Guide, Dania, Fla.: Casino Vacations, published 1997, →ISBN, page 12:
Government, Law enforcement Informal Preceded by the: execution by hanging.
- [A]ll those present shared the all-important political connections required to get a ticket to the execution. News reporters, doctors, and members of the juries had prime spots right by the platform, so that they could see the drop and record the time of death.2011, Elizabeth Dale, “Justice is Served”, in The Chicago Trunk Murder: Law and Justice at the Turn of the Century, DeKalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, →ISBN, page 74:
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Usually preceded by the: relegation from one division to a lower one.
American football, Ball games, Football, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of drop-back.
- The Tiger quarterback took a one-step drop, expecting his tight end to be open.
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of drop target.
Ball games, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Rugby, Sports Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of drop kick.
- You take off, make the steep drop, hear the white water rumbling behind you and feel the spray on your back.1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:
A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate.
- The drop in demand for oil resulted in a drop in prices.
- [T]he volume of money was expected to fluctuate with the volume of business activity so that a drop in business activity would bring a drop in the volume of money outstanding. […] If the volume of money is reduced, it tends to produce a slight drop in demand for all sorts of commodities.1935 January 17, Gardiner C[olt] Means, “Appendix L. The Necessity for Supplying the Right Amount of Monetary Medium.”, in Industrial Prices and Their Relative Inflexibility […] (74th Congress, 1st Session; document no. 13), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, paragraphs 5–6, page 37:
Business, Manufacturing, Sewing, Textiles Of men's clothes: the difference between the chest circumference and waist circumference.
Business, Manufacturing, Sewing, Textiles Of women's clothes: the difference between the bust circumference and hip circumference.
› The distance through which something drops…
The distance below a cliff or other high position through which someone or something could fall; hence, a steep slope.
- On one side of the road was a 50-foot drop.
- An Ananda truck coming down a steep, winding mountain road completely lost its brakes and crashed through a thin guard rail over an almost sheer 1000 foot drop. It was caught and held by a solitary tree that was growing in the one and only spot where it could prevent a certain fatal plunge. No one was even slightly injured.1982, John Ball, “Preface”, in Ananda: Where Yoga Lives, Bowling Green, Oh.: Bowling Green University Popular Press, →ISBN, page 6:
The vertical length of a hanging curtain.
Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.
Government, Law enforcement The distance that a person drops when being executed by hanging.
Nautical, Transport The depth of a (square) sail (generally applied to the courses only); the vertical dimension of a sail.
- A further point is, that the convenience of the ship herself may interfere with the disposition of sails. A high forecastle will shorten the drop of the foresail, and a poop may seriously interfere with the spanker.1869, Richard W. Meade, A Treatise on Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding, page 117:
- Her mainyard was 80 feet long, and her mainsail had a drop of 40 feet.1969, Richard Armstrong, The Merchantmen, page 97:
1 more example
- Because this natural bulging was not adequate, the sails were deliberately made to round outward by cutting the cloths longer than necessary for the drop of the sail.2020, John McKay, Sovereign of the Seas, 1637:
A place where items or supplies may be left for others to collect, whether openly (as with a mail drop), or secretly or illegally (as in crime or espionage); a drop-off point.
- I left the plans at the drop, like you asked.
- A drop is a place where the stolen property can be stored. It may be a warehouse, an apartment, or a garage. At the drop, a group of persons called loaders remove the merchandise from the truck and store it.1973, United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Small Business, Criminal Redistribution Systems and Their Economic Impact on Small Business: Hearings, Ninety-third Congress, page 811:
Informal Only used in get the drop on, have the drop on: an advantage.
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A point in a song, usually electronic music such as dubstep, house, trance, or trap, where there is a very noticeable and pleasing change in bass, tempo, and/or overall tone; a climax, a highlight.
- But musical ancestry aside, the influence to which [Justin] Bieber is most beholden is the current trends in pop music, which means Believe is loaded up with EDM [electronic dance music] accouterments, seeking a comfortable middle ground where Bieber’s impressively refined pop-R&B croon can rub up on techno blasts and garish dubstep drops (and occasionally grind on some AutoTune, not necessarily because it needs it, but because a certain amount of robo-voice is expected these days).2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 06 Aug 2020:
- Just as dubstep has grown in popularity and combined with many different genres, the drop has become a generalized type of which there are many individually varying instances, including dubstep bass-drop. As LA Times critic Randall Roberts notes, even good-girl tween pop idol Taylor Swift uses a drop in her Max-Martin-Produced track “I Knew You Were Trouble.”2015, Robin James, Resilience & Melancholy, Zero Books, →ISBN:
Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A place (specified by an ordinal) in the batting order after the openers.
- `Well what about first drop then? Garner will be on by then, I'll smash him all over the park.'1995, Paul Vautin, Turn It Up!, Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia, page 177:
- Derived terms
201 terms
acid drop, acidulated drop, air-drop, antidrop, a quick drop and a sudden stop, artificial tear drop, a short drop and a sudden stop, at the drop of a hat, backdrop, ball drop, balloon drop, banner drop, bass drop, beechdrops, black drop, black drop effect, bomb drop, book drop, bottom drop, bun drop, cliffdrop, coal drop, cold drop, dead drop, dead-drop, desk drop, dew drop, dewdrop, doc drop, dom drop, donkey drop, drop at comb, drop attack, drop bar, drop-bear, drop bolt, drop box, drop-box, drop-by, drop cake, drop-cake, drop capital, drop ceiling, drop crotch, drop-crotch, drop-crotching, drop crotching, drop D, drop-drill, drop-eared, drop earring, drop fade, drop fence, drop foot, drop-forged, drop forging, drop frame, dropful, drop-goal, drop grommet, drop gun, drop hammer, drop handlebar, drop in the bucket, drop in the ocean, drop in the pond, drop in the sea, dropkick, drop-knee, dropless, droplet, drop letter, droplight, drop light, droplike, dropline, droplist, drop lock, drop-lock, drop lot, dropmeal, drop neck, dropnet, dropometry, drop pass, drop pod, drop-proof, drop punt, drop-ripe, drop safe, drop-scene, drop seat, dropseed, drop serene, drop-set, drop set, drop shadow, drop shaft, drop-shaft, dropship, drop shipment, drop shoulder, dropside, dropsite, drop sleeve, dropsonde, drop-spine, dropstone, drop tank, droptop, drop top, drop tower, drop volley, drop waist, drop weapon, drop window, dropwing, dropwise, dropwisely, dropworm, dropwort, drop yard, dropzone, drop zone, ear drop, eardrop, eavedrop, eavesdrop, egg drop, egg drop syndrome, eucalyptus drop, eye drop, eye-drop, false drop, foot drop, French drop, fruit drop, get the drop on, gold drop, gravity drop, green drops, gumdrop, hair drop, hard drop, ice drop, jam drop, kneedrop, knee drop, knockout drop, leg drop, line drop, live drop, maildrop, mic drop, microdrop, mint drop, misdrop, multidrop, nanodrop, needle drop, non-drop, olio drop, one-drop, one drop, one-drop rule, outdrop, painted drop tongue, pan drop, pear drop, peppermint drop, pigeon drop, pinedrops, predrop, Prince Rupert drop, Prince Rupert's drop, pro-drop language, Q drop, raindrop, reverse one-drop rule, roll drop, rosedrop, rosy drop, Rupert's drop, service drop, shoulder drop, slut drop, snowdrop, spice drop, subdrop, summer branch drop, sundrops, sweatdrop, teardrop, thaw-drop, title drop, toe drop, top drop, troach drop, waterdrop, water drop, wrist drop- Hyponyms
- ball drop, cough drop, dewdrop, eye-drop, long drop, measured drop, raindrop, short drop, teardrop, turkey drop