drop

noun

1. 1

   figurativeA 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.

2. 2

   figurativeA 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. 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.

   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.

3. 3

   figurativeA 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. A liquid medicine that is intended to be administered in drops (sense 1).

   ear drops eye drops

4. 4

   figurativeA 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

   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?

5. 5

   figurativeA very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything. 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.

6. 6

   figurativeA very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything. 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.

   "He's as gay a little man as iver spoke, only he's a little too fond o' the dhrop, - the more's the pity, - an' it's whispered about among the sarvints that by manes uv it he lost a parish he had down the counthry; an' he was an his way up to Dublin, whin he stopt to spind a few days wid his ould frinds the masther an' misthress."

7. 7

   figurativeA very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything. A single measure of whisky.

8. 8

   That which hangs or resembles a liquid globule, such as a hanging diamond earring or ornament, a glass pendant on a chandelier, etc. Often preceded by a defining word: a small, round piece of hard candy, such as a lemon drop or piece of licorice; a lozenge.

9. 9

   That which hangs or resembles a liquid globule, such as a hanging diamond earring or ornament, a glass pendant on a chandelier, etc. An ornament resembling a pendant; a gutta.

10. 10

    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.

11. 11

    A thing which drops or hangs down. 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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

12. 12

    A thing which drops or hangs down. A dropped pass.

    Yet another drop for the Tiger tight end.

13. 13

    A thing which drops or hangs down. 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.

    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.

    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’.

    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."

14. 14

    A thing which drops or hangs down. An item made available for the player to pick up from the remains of a defeated enemy.

15. 15

    A thing which drops or hangs down. 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.

16. 16

    A thing which drops or hangs down. 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.

17. 17

    A thing which drops or hangs down. 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[…]).

    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.

18. 18

    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.

19. 19

    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). 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.

    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.

20. 20

    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). 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.

    Turned out this was the drop party for popster Effigy's latest release, BeatMeKickMeHoldMe.

21. 21

    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). The amount of money that a gambler exchanges for chips in a casino.

    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.

22. 22

    informalAn act or instance of dropping (in all senses). 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.

23. 23

    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Usually preceded by the: relegation from one division to a lower one.

24. 24

    An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). A near vertical descent down the face of a breaking wave.

    You take off, make the steep drop, hear the white water rumbling behind you and feel the spray on your back.

25. 25

    datedAn act or instance of dropping (in all senses). An unsolicited credit card issue.

26. 26

    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.

27. 27

    A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate. Of men's clothes: the difference between the chest circumference and waist circumference.

28. 28

    A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate. Of women's clothes: the difference between the bust circumference and hip circumference.

29. 29

    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. 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.

30. 30

    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. The vertical length of a hanging curtain.

31. 31

    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.

32. 32

    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. The distance that a person drops when being executed by hanging.

33. 33

    The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. 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.

    Her mainyard was 80 feet long, and her mainsail had a drop of 40 feet.

    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.

34. 34

    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.

35. 35

    informalOnly used in get the drop on, have the drop on: an advantage.

36. 36

    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.

    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.”

37. 37

    slangAn automobile with a drop-top roof, a convertible.

38. 38

    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.'

39. 39

    Variant of drop hammer or drop pressA thing which drops or hangs down. Ellipsis of drop hammer or drop press.

40. 40

    Variant of drop-backAn act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Ellipsis of drop-back.

    The Tiger quarterback took a one-step drop, expecting his tight end to be open.

41. 41

    Variant of drop targetAn act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Ellipsis of drop target.

42. 42

    Variant of drop kickAn act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Ellipsis of drop kick.

43. 43

    Variant of drop shotAn act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Ellipsis of drop shot.

verb

1. 1

   Of a liquid: to fall in drops or droplets.

   The kindlye dewe drops from the higher tree, / And wets the little plants that lowly dwell.

2. 2

   figurativeTo fall (straight down) under the influence of gravity, like a drop of liquid.

   A single shot was fired and the bird dropped from the sky.

3. 3

   figurativeTo fall (straight down) under the influence of gravity, like a drop of liquid. Of an item: To appear for the player to pick up, usually after an enemy has been defeated.

   When you defeat this boss, there's a chance a power-up will drop.

   This item can sometimes drop from chests.

4. 4

   To fall or sink quickly or suddenly to the ground.

   Drop and give me thirty push-ups, private!

   If your clothes are on fire, stop, drop, and roll.

5. 5

   To collapse in exhaustion or injury; also, to fall dead, or to fall in death.

   Nothing, ſays Seneca, is ſo melancholy a circumſtance in human life, or ſo ſoon reconciles us to the thought of our own death, as the reflection and prospect of one friend after another dropping round us!

6. 6

   To fall into a particular condition or state.

7. 7

   To come to an end (by not being kept up); to lapse, to stop.

   When he again found privacy consistent, however—and it happened to be long in coming—he took up their conversation very much where it had dropped.

8. 8

   To decrease, diminish, or lessen in condition, degree, value, etc.

   The stock dropped 1.5% yesterday.

   We can take our vacation when the price of fuel drops.

   Watch for the temperature to drop sharply, then you’ll know the reaction is complete.

   The equipment shows how much the glacier has moved and the amount it dropped in height over the summer.

9. 9

   To decrease, diminish, or lessen in condition, degree, value, etc. Of a song or sound: to lower in key, pitch, tempo, or other quality.

   My synthesizer makes the notes sound funny when they drop below C2.

   The song, 180 beats per minute, drops to 150 BPM near the end.

10. 10

    To decrease, diminish, or lessen in condition, degree, value, etc. Of a voice: to lower in timbre, often due to puberty.

    Billy’s voice dropped suddenly when he turned 12.

    The 18-year-old [Justin] Bieber can’t quite pull off the “adult” thing just yet: His voice may have dropped a bit since the days of “Baby,” but it still mostly registers as “angelic,” and veers toward a pubescent whine at times.

11. 11

    To fall behind or to the rear of a group of people, etc., as a result of not keeping up with those at the front.

12. 12

    Usually followed by by, in, or into: of a person: to visit someone or somewhere informally or without a prior appointment.

    Do drop by soon and I’ll lend you that book.

    We’ll drop in on her tomorrow.

    He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.

13. 13

    Of a programme, software, a music album or song, etc.: to enter public distribution.

    The album Hip-Hop Xmas dropped in time for the holidays.

14. 14

    To drop out of the betting.

    But more important, if I dropped, Marty would have won the hand automatically.

15. 15

    informalOf the testicles: to hang further away from the body and begin producing sperm due to puberty.

16. 16

    obsoleteTo let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops.

    The heavens […] dropped at the presence of God.

17. 17

    To drip (a liquid) in drops or small amounts.

    The recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever.

    persons, dropping sweat-drops or blood-drops

18. 18

    figurativeTo let (something) fall; to allow (something) to fall (either by releasing hold of, or losing one's grip on).

    Don’t drop that plate! The police ordered the men to drop their weapons.

    But signalman Bridges was never to answer driver Gimbert's desperate question. A deafening, massive blast blew the wagon to shreds, the 44 high-explosive bombs exploding like simultaneous hits from the aircraft they should have been dropped from. The station was instantly reduced to bits of debris, and the line to a huge crater.

19. 19

    figurativeTo let (something) fall; to allow (something) to fall (either by releasing hold of, or losing one's grip on). Of a defeated enemy or container: To leave behind an item that the player can collect.

    The monsters drop health pickups when killed.

    When opened, these chests have a chance to drop powerful items.

20. 20

    To move to a lower position; to allow to hang downwards; to lower.

    The stare seemed to abash Poirot. He dropped his eyes and began fiddling with the papers in front of him.

21. 21

    To move to a lower position; to allow to hang downwards; to lower. To quickly lower or take down (one's trousers), especially in public.

22. 22

    To move to a lower position; to allow to hang downwards; to lower. To cook (food, especially fast food), particularly by lowering into hot oil to deep-fry, or by grilling; to begin cooking an order.

    Drop a basket of fries.

23. 23

    To reduce; to make smaller.

    Here is a simple example: suppose you are in the process of writing a 15-page proposal and at a certain point you decide that, in order to fit all your material, you want to drop the font size from 12 to 11.

24. 24

    Of an animal (usually a sheep): to give birth to (young); of a bird: to lay (an egg).

    to drop a lamb

25. 25

    To mention (something) casually or incidentally, usually in conversation.

    The lecturer would drop hints whenever the students struggled.

    name drop

    By 1996, ‘jungle’ and ‘drum and bass’ were the words to drop.

26. 26

    To let (a letter, etc.) fall into a postbox; hence, to send (a letter, email, or other message) in an offhand manner.

    As she had a free moment, she dropped her a text.

    Drop me a note when you get to the city.

27. 27

    To make (someone or something) fall to the ground from a blow, gunshot, etc.; to bring down, to shoot down; to kill.

    Make any sudden movements and I will drop you!

    That gang rules the streets, dropping opponents with guns, bombs and other weapons.

    1846, ed. by G. W. Nickisson, “Elephant-Shooting in Ceylon”, in Fraser's Magazine, vol. XXXIII, no. CXCVII page 562: ...if the first shot does not drop him, and he rushes on, the second will be a very hurried and most likely ineffectual one... page 568 ...with a single shot he dropped him like a master of the art.

    As with all other animals, a shot behind the shoulder is the most likely to drop the beast on the spot […]

28. 28

    To set down (someone or something) from a vehicle; to stop and deliver or deposit (someone or something); to drop off.

    Could you drop me at the airport on your way to work tomorrow?

    I’ll be dropping the parcel at your place later.

29. 29

    To lower (a sound, a voice, etc.) in pitch or volume.

30. 30

    To lower (a sound, a voice, etc.) in pitch or volume. To tune (a guitar string, etc.) to a lower note.

31. 31

    To cease concerning oneself over (someone or something); to have nothing more to do with (a discussion, subject, etc.).

    I’m tired of this subject. Will you just drop it?

    They suddenly dropt the pursuit.

    The connection had been dropped many years.

    that astonishing ease with which fine ladies drop you and pick you up again

32. 32

    To dispose or get rid of (something); to lose, to remove.

    I dropped ten pounds and an obnoxious fiancée.

33. 33

    To cease to include (something), as if on a list; to dismiss, to eject, to expel.

    I’ve been dropped from the football team.

    If Carly Telford’s replacement of Karen Bardsley, because of a hamstring injury, was enforced, the switch to 4-4-1-1 was not. This new-look configuration saw Rachel Daly deployed in front of Lucy Bronze down the right, Toni Duggan and Fran Kirby dropped, Beth Mead introduced on the left and Nikita Parris moved up front.

34. 34

    To cancel or cease to participate in (a scheduled course, event, or project).

    I had to drop calculus because it was taking up too much of my time.

    The specialists she had taken her daughter to see attributed her collection of symptoms to the lingering effect of the many concussions she suffered playing sports. She had at least one concussion every year since she was in the fourth grade. Because of her frequent head injuries, her parents made her drop all her sports.

35. 35

    slangTo lose, spend, or otherwise part with (money).

    My friends went to the football game, but I skipped, as I had just dropped a lot of money on a new bike wheel.

    The question was: Who put the most in the collection box? The wealthy guy, who dropped a “C” note, or the tattered old dame who parted with her last tarnished penny.

    I forked over the $19.25. I was in no position to be dropping twenties like gumdrops but I deserved something good from this crappy morning.

36. 36

    slangTo pass or use (counterfeit cheques, money, etc.).

37. 37

    slangTo impart (something).

    I drop knowledge wherever I go.

38. 38

    slangEspecially in drop acid: to swallow (a drug, particularly LSD).

39. 39

    To release (a programme, software, a music album or song, etc.) to the public.

    They dropped the album Hip-Hop Xmas in time for the holidays.

    That hacker has been threatening to drop my docs [i.e. publish my personal information].

40. 40

    To fail to write, or (especially) to pronounce (a syllable, letter, etc.).

    Cockneys drop their aitches.

41. 41

    To play (a portion of music) in the manner of a disc jockey.

    I love it when he drops his funky beats.

    That guy can drop the bass like a monster.

42. 42

    To perform (rap music).

    Yo, I drop rhymes like nobody’s business.

43. 43

    To (unexpectedly) lose (a competition, game, etc.).

44. 44

    Of a fielder: to fail to dismiss (a batsman) by accidentally dropping a batted ball that had initially been caught.

    Warne dropped Tendulkar on 99. Tendulkar went on to get a century next ball.

45. 45

    To score (a goal) by means of a drop kick.

46. 46

    archaicTo cover (something) with or as if with drops, especially of a different colour; to bedrop, to variegate.

    their waved coats dropped with gold

47. 47

    To enter a more basic interface.

    Next, you drop to a shell.

48. 48

    To present (the user) with a more basic interface.

    The next step drops the user to a recovery shell.

49. 49

    slangTo make someone, or be made to do push-ups or some other form of exercise on the ground as punishment.

    Drop and give me 20, now!

50. 50

    slangTo bring a check to a table.

Forms

plural

drops

past tense

dropped, dropt

past participle

dropped, dropt

present participle

dropping

third person singular

drops