See Also: toe-drop(medicine)
drop-off(dictionary)
drop-in(dictionary)
drop-(dictionary)
drop(2)(dictionary)
drop(1)(dictionary)
Drop(medicine)
Drop-out(health)
Drop(finance)
Drop, The(money)

drop(2) (iou)



drop verb. Infl. -pp-. Pa. t. & pple dropped, (arch.) dropt.
[Old English drop(p)ian, formed as the noun.]
I. verb intrans.
Of a liquid: fall in drops; drip. OE.
Oxford English Dictionary Sweat dropped from his brow.
Give off moisture in drops; drip (with). ME.
Ld Macaulay The rabble of Comus..dropping with wine.
Allow or cause drops to fall; weep. LME.
Descend freely under the action of gravity; reach the ground after doing this. LME.
W. Cowper His apples might hang till they dropt from the tree. E. Hemingway It was snowing and the flakes were dropping diagonally through the pines. R. Macaulay Barbary swung herself through the window, dropped lightly on her feet.
b. Of ground etc.: incline or fall steeply to a lower level. Of a sail: have a specified vertical depth. M18.
R. L. Stevenson Mountain forests, dropping thousands of feet toward the far sea-level.
Of a person or animal: sink to the ground, allow oneself to fall, esp. because exhausted, wounded, or dead. LME.
C. P. Snow They would be working till they dropped. I. Wallace Edna Foster dropped into her..chair with a sigh of relief.
b. Die. M17.
c. Of a dog: crouch down abruptly at the sight of game. M19.
Call in or by as a casual or unexpected visitor; come or go back, over, into, etc., in a casual or undesigned way; come across or upon a person or thing. M17.
Conan Doyle We could drop in on each other in the evenings without an invitation. L. Hughes Drop by Sunday and lemme know for sure. J. Gardner I'll drop back later to see how you're doing. Sloan Wilson If you would care to drop into my office..we can work something out.
Pass easily or imperceptibly into a condition; fall asleep. M17.
A. B. Edwards We soon dropped back into the old life of sight-seeing and shopping.
Drop anchor. M17.
Come to an end through not being kept up; lapse. L17.
J. Galsworthy George yawning, the conversation dropped.
Fall in amount, degree, or pitch. Of the face: become downcast. E18.
H. James The storm of the night..had dropped. Scott Fitzgerald Her voice, dropping an octave lower, filled the room with..scorn. M. Edwardes The British market for trucks had dropped alarmingly. Financial Times MTD (Mangula) dropped 16 to 54p.
Be carried gently downstream by the wind or current. Usu. foll. by down. L18.
Fall behind, to the rear, etc., through allowing others to pass one. E19.
Spend or lose money; give a tip. slang. L19.
Of a playing-card: be dropped (see sense 29 below). M20.
II. verb trans.
Let (a liquid) fall in drops; shed (tears). ME.
Allow (something) to fall by relaxing one's hold or ceasing to give support; allow or cause to drop; spec. allow (esp. troops, supplies) to fall by parachute. In early use also fig., perpetrate (a trick etc.). ME.
Times The first atomic bomb had been dropped..on Hiroshima. J. Orton He takes it off, kicks away his shoes and drops his trousers. Robert Anderson Laura stoops and picks up the raincoat which Tom has dropped.
b. Bring to the ground by a blow or shot. E18.
J. W. Schultz He fired his Henry rifle..dropping two of the enemy.
Sprinkle with drops; transf. dot with spots of colour. arch. LME.
S. Rogers Fish..dropt with crimson and gold.
Utter or mention casually or as if unconsciously; let fall (a hint etc.). E17.
name-drop: see NAME noun.
J. Betjeman His womenfolk..smooth their..twinsets And drop the names of earls.
Abandon, cease to continue or pursue, (an activity, practice, study, etc.); give up association with (a person). E17.
R. Travers When the jury failed to agree the prosecution was dropped. J. Cheever I've never liked her parties, and I'm glad she's dropped us. W. March When you get this letter, drop everything..and come back to me. M. Roberts Helen is glad to drop the subject.
b. Discard from a team; gen. (chiefly US) dismiss from employment. colloq. M19.
G. Boycott He was dropped by England after a couple of Test matches.
c. Lose (a game etc.) unexpectedly. Chiefly US. M20.
Give birth to; lay (an egg). M17.
Lose, give, or part with (money). slang. L17.
Bend the knees and lower the body to make (a curtsy). L17.
Send (a note etc.) in a casual manner. M18.
T. Sharpe I was about to drop you a line asking if I could see you.
Set down (a passenger) from a vehicle or ship, esp. on the way to another destination; leave (a packet) at a house etc. L18.
A. Burgess Drop me outside the town. I can pick up a trishaw. N. Mailer The newspapers were already being dropped at the early morning stands.
Omit (a letter or syllable) in reading or pronunciation. M19.
Lower (the eyes), esp. from modesty or shame. M19.
Lower the level or position of; transf. reduce the pitch or loudness of (the voice). M19.
C. Beaton Nor did the new fashion permit women simply to drop their skirts. E. Waugh Anthony dropped his voice to a..whisper.
In football, score (a goal) by a drop-kick. L19.
Play (a lower card) in the same trick as a higher one, esp. because of the need to follow suit. M20.
Put into circulation (counterfeit money, forged cheques). slang. M20.
Take (a drug) orally. slang. M20.
Phrases: drop a brick: see BRICK noun. drop anchor: see ANCHOR noun1. drop astern outdistance (a boat), leave in the rear. drop a CLANGER. drop a stitch: see STITCH noun1. drop dead! slang an exclam. expressing intense scorn of the person addressed. drop-eared adjective (of a dog) having ears that hang down; opp. PRICK-EARED 1. drop it! stop that! have done! stop talking or arguing about that! drop one's aitches: see AITCH. drop one's bundle: see BUNDLE noun. drop short fall short (of). fit to drop, ready to drop worn out, exhausted. let drop: see LET verb1. the bottom drops out of: see BOTTOM noun. the penny drops: see PENNY noun.
With adverbs & prepositions in specialized senses: drop away fall away or be lost gradually. drop down to = drop to below. drop in come in one by one or at intervals; (see also sense 6 above). drop into colloq. attack fiercely. drop off (a) verb phr. intrans. gradually withdraw or cease to come, diminish; (b) verb phr. intrans. die; fall asleep; (c) verb phr. trans. = sense 24 above. drop on come down heavily on; reprimand, punish; (usu. in pass.). drop on to = drop to below. drop out (a) cease to appear or participate in an activity; spec. abandon one's studies from deliberate choice; withdraw from conventional society; (b) remove dots from (an area of a halftone picture or plate). drop to slang (chiefly US & Austral.) become aware of, recognize, realize.