drop

drop

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of drop in English

English Online Dictionary. What means drop‎? What does drop mean?

English

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: drŏp, IPA(key): /dɹɒp/
  • (General American) enPR: drŏp, IPA(key): /dɹɑp/, [d͡ʒɹɑp]
  • Rhymes: -ɒp

Etymology 1

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 Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewb- (“to crumble, grind”).

Noun

drop (plural drops)

  1. (also figuratively) A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own round shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid.
    1. (pharmacology) A dose of liquid medicine in the form of a drop (sense 1).
    2. (pharmacology, chiefly in the plural) A liquid medicine that is intended to be administered in drops (sense 1).
  2. (figuratively) A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything.
    Synonyms: dash, smidgen; see also Thesaurus:modicum
    1. (chiefly Australia, British) A small amount of an alcoholic beverage.
    2. (chiefly British) Usually preceded by the: alcoholic spirits in general.
    3. (Ireland, informal) A single measure of whisky.
  3. That which hangs or resembles a liquid globule, such as a hanging diamond earring or ornament, a glass pendant on a chandelier, etc.
    1. Often preceded by a defining word: a small, round piece of hard candy, such as a lemon drop; a lozenge.
    2. (architecture) An ornament resembling a pendant; a gutta.
  4. A thing which drops or hangs down.
    1. 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.
    2. (agriculture) A fruit which has fallen off a tree, etc., or has been knocked off accidentally, rather than picked.
    3. (American football) A dropped pass.
    4. (law enforcement) A trapdoor (“hinged platform”) on a gallows; a gallows itself.
    5. (online gaming, video games) An item made available for the player to pick up from the remains of a defeated enemy.
    6. (technology)
      1. 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.
      2. Ellipsis of drop hammer or drop press.
    7. (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.
  5. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses).
    1. An act of moving downwards under the force of gravity; a descent, a fall.
      Synonyms: flop, decline
    2. 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.
    3. A release (of music, a video game, etc).
    4. (gambling) The amount of money that a gambler exchanges for chips in a casino.
    5. (law enforcement, informal) Preceded by the: execution by hanging.
    6. (sports)
      1. Usually preceded by the: relegation from one division to a lower one.
      2. (American football) Ellipsis of drop-back.
      3. (pinball) Ellipsis of drop target.
      4. (rugby) Ellipsis of drop kick.
      5. (golf) Ellipsis of drop shot.
      6. (surfing) A near vertical decent down the face of a breaking wave.
    7. (US, banking, dated) An unsolicited credit card issue.
  6. A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate.
    Synonyms: breakdown, deterioration, dip, reduction, worsening; see also Thesaurus:decrement
    1. (sewing)
      1. Of men's clothes: the difference between the chest circumference and waist circumference.
      2. Of women's clothes: the difference between the bust circumference and hip circumference.
  7. The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level.
    1. The distance below a cliff or other high position through which someone or something could fall; hence, a steep slope.
    2. The vertical length of a hanging curtain.
    3. (engineering) The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.
    4. (law enforcement) The distance that a person drops when being executed by hanging.
    5. (nautical) The depth of a (square) sail (generally applied to the courses only); the vertical dimension of a sail.
  8. 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.
  9. (informal) Only used in get the drop on, have the drop on: an advantage.
  10. (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.
  11. Licorice in confectionery form.
  12. (slang, US) An automobile with a drop-top roof, a convertible.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English droppen, dropen (“to fall in drops, drip or trickle down; to scatter, sprinkle; to be covered with a liquid; to give off moisture; of an object: to drop, fall; of a living being: to fall to the ground”) [and other forms], from Old English dropian, droppian (“to drop”), from dropa (“a drop”) (see further at etymology 1) + -ian (suffix forming verbs from adjectives and nouns).

Verb

drop (third-person singular simple present drops, present participle dropping, simple past and past participle dropped or (archaic) dropt)

  1. (intransitive) Of a liquid: to fall in drops or droplets. [from 11th c.]
  2. (intransitive, also figuratively) To fall (straight down) under the influence of gravity, like a drop of liquid. [from 14th c.]
  3. (intransitive) To fall or sink quickly or suddenly to the ground. [from 15th c.]
  4. (intransitive) To collapse in exhaustion or injury; also, to fall dead, or to fall in death.
  5. (intransitive) To fall into a particular condition or state.
  6. (intransitive) To come to an end (by not being kept up); to lapse, to stop. [from 17th c.]
  7. (intransitive) To decrease, diminish, or lessen in condition, degree, value, etc. [from 18th c.]
    1. (intransitive) Of a song or sound: to lower in key, pitch, tempo, or other quality.
    3. (intransitive) Of a voice: to lower in timbre, often due to puberty.
  8. (intransitive) 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.
  9. (intransitive) Usually followed by by, in, or into: of a person: to visit someone or somewhere informally or without a prior appointment.
  10. (intransitive, computing, music, television, colloquial) Of a programme, software, a music album or song, etc.: to enter public distribution.
  11. (intransitive, gambling) To drop out of the betting.
  12. (intransitive, physiology, informal) Of the testicles: to hang further away from the body and begin producing sperm due to puberty.
  13. (intransitive, obsolete) To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops.
  14. (transitive) To drip (a liquid) in drops or small amounts. [from 14th c.]
  16. (transitive, ergative, also figuratively) To let (something) fall; to allow (something) to fall (either by releasing hold of, or losing one's grip on). [from 14th c.]
  17. (transitive) To move to a lower position; to allow to hang downwards; to lower.
    1. To quickly lower or take down (one's trousers), especially in public.
    2. (cooking) To cook (food, especially fast food), particularly by lowering into hot oil to deep-fry, or by grilling.
  18. (transitive) To reduce; to make smaller.
  19. (transitive) Of an animal (usually a sheep): to give birth to (young); of a bird: to lay (an egg).
  20. (transitive) To mention (something) casually or incidentally, usually in conversation. [from 17th c.]
  21. (transitive) To let (a letter, etc.) fall into a postbox; hence, to send (a letter, email, or other message) in an offhand manner. [from 18th c.]
  23. (transitive) To make (someone or something) fall to the ground from a blow, gunshot, etc.; to bring down, to shoot down; to kill. [from 18th c.]
    • 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.
    • 1992, Dan Parkinson, Dust on the Wind, page 164
      With a quick clench of the fist on Joey's throat, Bodie dropped him. The man crumpled to the ground […]
  24. (transitive) To set down (someone or something) from a vehicle; to stop and deliver or deposit (someone or something); to drop off.
  25. (transitive) To lower (a sound, a voice, etc.) in pitch or volume.
    1. (transitive, music) To tune (a guitar string, etc.) to a lower note.
  26. (transitive) To cease concerning oneself over (someone or something); to have nothing more to do with (a discussion, subject, etc.). [from 17th c.]
  27. (transitive) To dispose or get rid of (something); to lose, to remove.
  28. (transitive) To cease to include (something), as if on a list; to dismiss, to eject, to expel.
  29. (transitive) To cancel or cease to participate in (a scheduled course, event, or project).
  30. (transitive, slang)
    1. To lose, spend, or otherwise part with (money). [from 17th c.]
    2. To pass or use (counterfeit cheques, money, etc.).
    3. To impart (something).
    4. Especially in drop acid: to swallow (a drug, particularly LSD). [from 20th c.]
  31. (transitive, computing, music, television, colloquial) To release (a programme, software, a music album or song, etc.) to the public.
  32. (transitive, linguistics) To fail to write, or (especially) to pronounce (a syllable, letter, etc.). [from 19th c.]
  33. (transitive, music)
    1. To play (a portion of music) in the manner of a disc jockey.
    2. To perform (rap music).
  34. (transitive, sports)
    1. (originally US) To (unexpectedly) lose (a competition, game, etc.).
    2. (cricket) Of a fielder: to fail to dismiss (a batsman) by accidentally dropping a batted ball that had initially been caught.
    3. (rugby) To score (a goal) by means of a drop kick.
  35. (transitive, archaic) To cover (something) with or as if with drops, especially of a different colour; to bedrop, to variegate.
  36. (intransitive, computing) To enter a more basic interface.
  37. (transitive, computing) To present (the user) with a more basic interface.
  38. (US, Singapore, ergative, military, slang) To make someone, or be made to do push-ups or some other form of exercise on the ground as punishment.
    Synonym: (Singapore) knock it down
Derived terms
Translations

References

Further reading

  • drop on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

  • dorp, prod., Pro-D, Prod., Prod, prod

Czech

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈdrop]
  • Rhymes: -op
  • Homophone: drob

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *dropъty, which is a compound, whose first part is probably from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- (“run”) and the other from Proto-Slavic *pъta (“bird”), which is probably based on Proto-Indo-European *put- (“a young, a child, a little animal”).

Noun

drop m anim (relational adjective dropí)

  1. bustard
Declension

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English drop (“act of dropping”).

Noun

drop m inan

  1. (golf) dropping a new ball from hand from shoulder height and arm's length, if the original ball was lost
Declension

References

Further reading

  • “drop”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
  • “drop”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
  • “drop”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch drope (“drop”), from Old Dutch dropo, from Proto-Germanic *drupô. When unsuffixed, drop is more common than drup, but suffixed druppel is more common than droppel; this is likely due to the effects of i-umlaut triggered by the suffix -el. Indeed, drup is assumed to be based on druppel, as drop is the linguistically expected form (Germanic *u becomes Dutch o).

The sense “licorice” developed from the sense “drop of licorice extract”; compare also English lemon drop.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /drɔp/
  • Hyphenation: drop
  • Rhymes: -ɔp

Noun

drop f (plural droppen, diminutive dropje n or droppie n)

  1. droplet
    Synonym: druppel

Alternative forms

  • drup

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: drup

Noun

drop f or n (uncountable, diminutive dropje n or droppie n)

  1. licorice, especially a variety sold as small sweets/candies

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Petjo: derop, d'rop
  • → Papiamentu: dròp

References

  • van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “drop1”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Anagrams

  • dorp

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English drop.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dʁɔp/

Noun

drop m (plural drops)

  1. (rugby) drop goal

Further reading

  • “drop”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

drop

  1. alternative form of drope

Etymology 2

Verb

drop

  1. alternative form of droppen

Polish

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *dropь.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdrɔp/
  • Rhymes: -ɔp
  • Syllabification: drop
  • Homophones: Drob, Drop

Noun

drop m animal

  1. bustard (any bird of the family Otididae, especially the great bustard (Otis tarda) or any member of the genus Ardeotis)

Declension

Further reading

  • drop in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • drop in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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dropped

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This article based on an article on Wiktionary. The list of authors can be seen in the page history there. The original work has been modified. This article is distributed under the terms of this license.