Definition of "drop"

(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.  quotations

1. (pharmacology) A dose of liquid medicine in the form of a drop (sense 1).  quotations

   Quotations

   • 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, 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, part 2 (The Best Medicine for 81 Common Health Concerns), page 234, column 1

2. (pharmacology, chiefly in the plural) A liquid medicine that is intended to be administered in drops (sense 1).

(figuratively) A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything.  quotations

1. (chiefly Australia, Britain) A small amount of an alcoholic beverage.  examples

2. (chiefly Britain) Usually preceded by the: alcoholic spirits in general.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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, […], page 61

3. (Ireland, informal) A single measure of whisky.  examples

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.  examples

2. (architecture) An ornament resembling a pendant; a gutta.  examples

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.  examples

2. (agriculture) A fruit which has fallen off a tree, etc., or has been knocked off accidentally, rather than picked.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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, 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, page 387, column 1

   • 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, 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, 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, page 54, column 1

3. (American football) A dropped pass.  examples

4. (law enforcement) A trapdoor (“hinged platform”) on a gallows; a gallows itself.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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

   • 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

5. (online gaming, video games) An item made available for the player to pick up from the remains of a defeated enemy.  examples

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.  examples

   2. Short for drop hammer and drop press.  examples

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.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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, 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

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

1. An act of moving downwards under the force of gravity; a descent, a fall.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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, archived from the original on 21 February 2021

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.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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

3. A release (of music, a video game, etc).  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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, 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

4. (gambling) The amount of money that a gambler exchanges for chips in a casino.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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, page 12

5. (law enforcement, informal) Preceded by the: execution by hanging.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • [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, page 74

6. (sports)

   1. Usually preceded by the: relegation from one division to a lower one.  examples

   2. (American football) Short for drop-back.  examples

   3. (pinball) Short for drop target.  examples

   4. (rugby) Short for drop kick.  examples

   5. (golf) Short for drop shot.  examples

7. (US, banking, dated) An unsolicited credit card issue.  examples

A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate.  quotations

1. (sewing)

   1. Of men's clothes: the difference between the chest circumference and waist circumference.  examples

   2. Of women's clothes: the difference between the bust circumference and hip circumference.  examples

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.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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, page 6

2. The vertical length of a hanging curtain.  examples

3. (engineering) The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.  examples

4. (law enforcement) The distance that a person drops when being executed by hanging.  examples

5. (nautical) The depth of a (square) sail (generally applied to the courses only); the vertical dimension of a sail.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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

   • 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.  quotations  examples

(informal) Only used in get the drop on, have the drop on An advantage.  examples

(music) A point in a song, usually electronic music such as dubstep, house, trace, or trap, where there is a very noticeable and pleasing change in bass, tempo, and/or overall tone; a climax, a highlight.  quotations  examples

(intransitive) Of a liquid: to fall in drops or droplets.  quotations  examples

(intransitive, also figuratively) To fall (straight down) under the influence of gravity, like a drop of liquid.  examples

(intransitive) To fall or sink quickly or suddenly to the ground.  examples

(intransitive) To collapse in exhaustion or injury; also, to fall dead, or to fall in death.  quotations  examples

(intransitive) To fall into a particular condition or state.  examples

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

(intransitive) To decrease, diminish, or lessen in condition, degree, value, etc.  quotations

1. (intransitive) Of a song or sound: to lower in key, pitch, tempo, or other quality.  examples

2. (intransitive) Of a voice: to lower in timbre, often due to puberty.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.

     2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 6 August 2020

(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.  examples

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

(intransitive, computing, music, television, colloquial) Of a programme, software, a music album or song, etc.: to enter public distribution.  examples

(intransitive, gambling) To drop out of the betting.  quotations  examples

(intransitive, physiology, informal) Of the testicles: to hang further away from the body and begin producing sperm due to puberty.

(intransitive, obsolete) To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops.  quotations

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

(transitive, ergative, also figuratively) To let (something) fall; to allow (something) to fall (either by releasing hold of, or losing one's grip on).  quotations  examples

(transitive) To move to a lower position; to allow to hang downwards; to lower.  quotations

1. To quickly lower or take down (one's trousers), especially in public.  examples

2. (cooking) To cook (food, especially fast food), particularly by lowering into hot oil to deep-fry, or by grilling.  examples

(transitive) To reduce; to make smaller.  quotations  examples

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

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

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

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

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

(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.  examples

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

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

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

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

(transitive, slang)

1. To lose, spend, or otherwise part with (money).  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • 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.

     1949, The Atlantian, volume 8, Atlanta: United States Penitentiary, page 41

   • 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.

     2000, Lisa Reardon, Blameless: A Novel, Random House, page 221

2. To pass or use (counterfeit cheques, money, etc.).  examples

3. To impart (something).  examples

4. Especially in drop acid: to swallow (a drug, particularly LSD).  examples

(transitive, computing, music, television, colloquial) To release (a programme, software, a music album or song, etc.) to the public.  examples

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

(transitive, music)

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

2. To perform (rap music).  examples

(transitive, sports)

1. (originally US) To (unexpectedly) lose (a competition, game, etc.).  examples

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

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

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

(intransitive, computing) To enter a more basic interface.  examples

(transitive, computing) To present (the user) with a more basic interface.  examples