Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Drop

Drop

(drŏp)
,
Noun.
[OE.
drope
, AS.
dropa
; akin to OS.
dropo
, D.
drop
, OHG.
tropo
, G.
tropfen
, Icel.
dropi
, Sw.
droppe
; and Fr. AS.
dreópan
to drip, drop; akin to OS.
driopan
, D.
druipen
, OHG.
triofan
, G.
triefen
, Icel.
drjūpa
. Cf.
Drip
,
Droop
.]
1.
The quantity of fluid which falls in one small spherical mass; a liquid globule; a minim; hence, also, the smallest easily measured portion of a fluid; a small quantity;
as, a
drop
of water
.
With minute
drops
from off the eaves.
Milton.
As dear to me as are the ruddy
drops

That visit my sad heart.
Shakespeare
That
drop
of peace divine.
Keble.
2.
That which resembles, or that which hangs like, a liquid drop; as a hanging diamond ornament, an earring, a glass pendant on a chandelier, a sugarplum (sometimes medicated), or a kind of shot or slug.
3.
(Arch.)
(a)
Same as
Gutta
.
(b)
Any small pendent ornament.
4.
Whatever is arranged to drop, hang, or fall from an elevated position; also, a contrivance for lowering something
; as:
(a)
A door or platform opening downward; a trap door; that part of the gallows on which a culprit stands when he is to be hanged; hence, the gallows itself.
(b)
A machine for lowering heavy weights, as packages, coal wagons, etc., to a ship’s deck.
(c)
A contrivance for temporarily lowering a gas jet.
(d)
A curtain which drops or falls in front of the stage of a theater, etc.
(e)
A drop press or drop hammer.
(f)
(Mach.)
The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.
5.
pl.
Any medicine the dose of which is measured by drops;
as, lavender
drops
.
6.
(Naut.)
The depth of a square sail; – generally applied to the courses only.
Ham. Nav. Encyc.
7.
Act of dropping; sudden fall or descent.
Ague drop
,
Black drop
.
See under
Ague
,
Black
.
Drop by drop
,
in small successive quantities; in repeated portions.
“Made to taste drop by drop more than the bitterness of death.”
Burke.
Drop curtain
.
See
Drop
,
Noun.
, 4.
(d)
.
Drop forging
.
(Mech.)
(a)
A forging made in dies by a drop hammer.
(b)
The process of making drop forgings.
Drop hammer
(Mech.)
,
a hammer for forging, striking up metal, etc., the weight being raised by a strap or similar device, and then released to drop on the metal resting on an anvil or die.
Drop kick
(Football)
,
a kick given to the ball as it rebounds after having been dropped from the hands.
Drop lake
,
a pigment obtained from Brazil wood.
Mollett.
Drop letter
,
a letter to be delivered from the same office where posted.
Drop press
(Mech.)
,
a drop hammer; sometimes, a dead-stroke hammer; – also called drop.
Drop scene
,
a drop curtain on which a scene is painted. See
Drop
,
Noun.
, 4.
(d)
.
Drop seed
.
(Bot.)
See the List under
Glass
.
Drop serene
.
(Med.)

Drop

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dropped
or
Dropt
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Dropping
.]
[OE.
droppen
, AS.
dropan
, v. i. See
Drop
,
Noun.
]
1.
To pour or let fall in drops; to pour in small globules; to distill.
“The trees drop balsam.”
Creech.
The recording angel, as he wrote it down,
dropped
a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever.
Sterne.
2.
To cause to fall in one portion, or by one motion, like a drop; to let fall;
as, to
drop
a line in fishing; to
drop
a courtesy.
3.
To let go; to dismiss; to set aside; to have done with; to discontinue; to forsake; to give up; to omit.
They suddenly
drop't
the pursuit.
S. Sharp.
That astonishing ease with which fine ladies
drop
you and pick you up again.
Thackeray.
The connection had been
dropped
many years.
Sir W. Scott.
Dropping
the too rough H in Hell and Heaven.
Tennyson.
4.
To bestow or communicate by a suggestion; to let fall in an indirect, cautious, or gentle manner;
as, to
drop
hint, a word of counsel, etc.
5.
To lower, as a curtain, or the muzzle of a gun, etc.
6.
To send, as a letter;
as, please
drop
me a line, a letter, word
.
7.
To give birth to;
as, to
drop
a lamb
.
8.
To cover with drops; to variegate; to bedrop.
Show to the sun their waved coats
dropped
with gold.
Milton.
To drop a vessel
(Naut.)
,
to leave it astern in a race or a chase; to outsail it.

Drop

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To fall in drops.
The kindly dew
drops
from the higher tree,
And wets the little plants that lowly dwell.
Spenser.
2.
To fall, in general, literally or figuratively;
as, ripe fruit
drops
from a tree; wise words
drop
from the lips.
Mutilations of which the meaning has
dropped
out of memory.
H. Spencer.
When the sound of
dropping
nuts is heard.
Bryant.
3.
To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops.
The heavens . . .
dropped
at the presence of God.
Ps. lxviii. 8.
4.
To fall dead, or to fall in death;
as,
dropping
like flies
.
Nothing, says Seneca, so soon reconciles us to the thoughts of our own death, as the prospect of one friend after another
dropping
round us.
Digby.
5.
To come to an end; to cease; to pass out of mind;
as, the affair
dropped
.
Pope.
6.
To come unexpectedly; – with in or into;
as, my old friend
dropped
in a moment
.
Steele.
Takes care to
drop
in when he thinks you are just seated.
Spectator.
7.
To fall or be depressed; to lower;
as, the point of the spear
dropped
a little
.
8.
To fall short of a mark.
[R.]
Often it
drops
or overshoots by the disproportion of distance.
Collier.
9.
To be deep in extent; to descend perpendicularly;
as, her main topsail
drops
seventeen yards
.
To drop astern
(Naut.)
,
to go astern of another vessel; to be left behind; to slacken the speed of a vessel so as to fall behind and to let another pass a head.
To drop down
(Naut.)
,
to sail, row, or move down a river, or toward the sea.
To drop off
,
to fall asleep gently; also, to die.
[Colloq.]

Webster 1828 Edition


Drop

DROP

,
Noun.
[G.]
1.
A small portion of any fluid in a spherical form, which falls at once from any body, or a globule of any fluid which is pendent, as if about to fall; a small portion of water falling in rain; as a drop of water; a drop of blood; a drop of laudanum.
2.
A diamond hanging from the ear; an earring; something hanging in the form of a drop.
3.
A very small quantity of liquor; as, he had not drank a drop.
4.
The part of a gallows which sustains the criminal before he is executed, and which is suddenly dropped.

Definition 2024


drop

drop

See also: dråp

English

Noun

A water drop.

drop (plural drops)

  1. A small mass of liquid just large enough to hold its own weight via surface tension, usually one that falls from a source of liquid.
    Put three drops of oil into the mixture.
  2. The space or distance below a cliff or other high position into which someone or something could fall.
    On one side of the road was a 50-foot drop.
  3. A fall, descent; an act of dropping.
    That was a long drop, but fortunately I didn't break any bones.
    • 2012 November 17, John Branch, “Snow Fall : The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in New York Time:
      It moved in surges, like a roller coaster on a series of drops and high-banked turns.
  4. A place where items or supplies may be left for others to collect, sometimes associated with criminal activity; a drop-off point.
    I left the plans at the drop, like you asked.
    The Drop (film title)
  5. An instance of dropping supplies or making a delivery, sometimes associated with delivery of supplies by parachute.
    The delivery driver has to make three more drops before lunch.
  6. (chiefly Britain) a small amount of an alcoholic beverage; or when used with the definite article (the drop), alcoholic spirits in general.
    He usually enjoys a drop after dinner.
    It doesn't matter where you're from; anyone who enjoys the drop is a friend of mine.
  7. (Ireland, informal) A single measure of whisky.
  8. A small, round, sweet piece of hard candy, e.g. a lemon drop; a lozenge.
  9. (American football) A dropped pass.
    Yet another drop for the Tiger tight end.
  10. (American football) Short for drop-back or drop back.
    The Tiger quarterback took a one-step drop, expecting his tight end to be open.
  11. (Rugby football) A drop-kick.
  12. In a woman, the difference between bust circumference and hip circumference; in a man, the difference between chest circumference and waist circumference.
  13. (video games, online gaming) Any item dropped by defeated enemies.
  14. (music) A point in a song, usually electronic-styled music such as dubstep, house, trance or trap, where there is a very noticeable and pleasing change in tempo, bass, and/or overall tone; also known as the highlight or climax.
    • 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The Onion AV Club:
      But musical ancestry aside, the influence to which Bieber is most beholden is the current trends in pop music, which means Believe is loaded up with EDM 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).
  15. (US, banking, dated) an unsolicited credit card issue
  16. The vertical length of a hanging curtain.
  17. That which resembles or hangs like a liquid drop: a hanging diamond ornament, an earring, a glass pendant on a chandelier, etc.
  18. (architecture) A gutta.
  19. A mechanism for lowering something, such as: a trapdoor; a machine for lowering heavy weights onto a ship's deck; a device for temporarily lowering a gas jet; a curtain which falls in front of a theatrical stage; etc.
  20. (slang) (With definite article) A gallows; a sentence of hanging.
  21. A drop press or drop hammer.
  22. (engineering) The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.
  23. (nautical) The depth of a square sail; generally applied to the courses only.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ham. Nav. Encyc to this entry?)

Derived terms

(See below)

Translations

Verb

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

  1. (intransitive) To fall in droplets (of a liquid). [from 11th c.]
    • Spenser
      The kindly dew drops from the higher tree, / And wets the little plants that lowly dwell.
  2. (transitive) To drip (a liquid). [form 14th c.]
    • Creech
      The trees drop balsam.
    • Sterne
      The recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever.
  3. (intransitive) Generally, to fall (straight down). [from 14th c.]
    A single shot was fired and the bird dropped from the sky.
  4. (transitive, ergative) To let fall; to allow to fall (either by releasing hold of, or losing one's grip on). [from 14th c.]
    Don't drop that plate!   The police ordered the men to drop their weapons.
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops.
    • Bible, Psalms lxviii. 8
      The heavens [] dropped at the presence of God.
  6. (intransitive) To sink quickly to the ground. [from 15th c.]
    Drop and give me thirty push-ups, private!   If your clothes are on fire, stop, drop and roll.
  7. (intransitive) To fall dead, or to fall in death.
    • Digby
      Nothing, says Seneca, so soon reconciles us to the thoughts of our own death, as the prospect of one friend after another dropping round us.
  8. (intransitive) To come to an end (by not being kept up); to stop. [from 17th c.]
    • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:
      Maisie's faith in Mrs. Wix for instance had suffered no lapse from the fact that all communication with her had temporarily dropped.
  9. (transitive) To mention casually or incidentally, usually in conversation. [from 17th c.]
    The moderator would drop hints whenever the students struggled.   She would sometimes drop off to sleep straight after dinner.
  10. (transitive, slang) To part with or spend (money). [from 17th c.]
    • 1949, The Atlantian, v 8, Atlanta: United States Penitentiary, p 41:
      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.
    • 2000, Lisa Reardon, Blameless: A Novel, Random House, p 221:
      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.
  11. (transitive) To cease concerning oneself over; to have nothing more to do with (a subject, discussion etc.). [from 17th c.]
    I'm tired of this subject. Will you just drop it?
    • S. Sharp
      They suddenly drop't the pursuit.
    • Thackeray
      that astonishing ease with which fine ladies drop you and pick you up again
    • Sir Walter Scott
      The connection had been dropped many years.
  12. (intransitive) To lessen, decrease, or diminish in value, condition, degree, etc. [from 18th c.]
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 17, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.
    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.
  13. (transitive) To let (a letter etc.) fall into a postbox; to send (a letter or message). [from 18th c.]
    Drop me a note when you get to the city.
  14. (transitive) To make (someone or something) fall to the ground from a blow, gunshot etc.; to bring down, to shoot down. [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.
    • 1892, Alexander A. A. Kinloch, Large Game Shooting in Thibet, the Himalayas, Northern and Central India, page 126
      As with all other animals, a shot behind the shoulder is the most likely to drop the beast on the spot []
    • 1921, Daniel Henderson, Boone of the Wilderness, page 54
      He dropped the beast with a bullet in its heart.
    • 1985, Beastie Boys, Paul Revere:
      The piano player's out, the music stopped / His boy had beef, and he got dropped...
    • 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 []
    Make any sudden movements and I will drop you!
  15. (transitive, linguistics) To fail to write, or (especially) to pronounce (a syllable, letter etc.). [from 19th c.]
    Cockneys drop their aitches.
  16. (cricket, of a fielder) To fail to make a catch from a batted ball that would have lead to the batsman being out.
    Warne dropped Tendulkar on 99. Tendulkar went on to get a century next ball
  17. (transitive, slang) To swallow (a drug), particularly LSD. [from 20th c.]
    They had never dropped acid.
  18. (transitive) to dispose (of); get rid of; to remove; to lose
    I dropped ten pounds and an obnoxious fiancée.
  19. (transitive) to eject; to dismiss; to cease to include, as if on a list.
    I've been dropped from the football team.
  20. (Rugby football) To score [a goal] by means of a drop-kick
  21. (transitive, slang) To impart.
    I drop knowledge wherever I go.   Yo, I drop rhymes like nobody's business.
  22. (transitive, music, colloquial) To release to the public.
    They dropped "Hip-Hop Xmas" in time for the holidays.
  23. (transitive, music) To play a portion of music in the manner of a disc jockey.
    That guy can drop the bass like a monster.   I love it when he drops his funky beats.
  24. (intransitive, music, colloquial) To enter public distribution.
    "Hip-Hop Xmas" dropped in time for the holidays.
  25. (transitive, music) To tune (a guitar string, etc.) to a lower note.
  26. (transitive) To cancel or end a scheduled event, project or course
    I had to drop calculus because it was taking up too much of my time and I couldn't go anymore.
  27. (transitive, fast food) To cook, especially by deep-frying or grilling.
    Drop a basket of fries.
  28. (intransitive, of a voice) To lower in timbre, often relating to puberty.
    • 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The Onion AV Club:
      The 18-year-old 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.
    Billy's voice dropped suddenly when he turned 12.
  29. (intransitive, of a sound or song) To lower in pitch, tempo, key, or other quality.
    The song, 180 beats per minute, drops to 150 BPM near the end.   My synthesizer makes the notes sound funny when they drop below C2.
  30. (intransitive, of people) To visit informally; used with in or by.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
      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.
    drop by soon;   drop in on her tomorrow
  31. To give birth to.
    to drop a lamb
  32. To cover with drops; to variegate; to bedrop.
    • Milton
      their waved coats dropped with gold
  33. (slang, of the testicles) To hang lower and begin producing sperm due to puberty.

Translations

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Anagrams


Czech

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /drop/
  • Rhymes: -op
  • Homophone: drob

Etymology 1

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).[1][2]

Noun

drop m

  1. bustard
Declension

Etymology 2

Borrowing from English drop (act of dropping).

Noun

drop m

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

References

  1. "drop" in Jiří Rejzek, Český etymologický slovník, Leda, 2015, ISBN 978-80-7335-393-3, page 157–158.
  2. "pták" in Jiří Rejzek, Český etymologický slovník, Leda, 2015, ISBN 978-80-7335-393-3, page 569.

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɔp
  • IPA(key): /drɔp/

Etymology

From Middle Dutch drope (drop), from Old Dutch dropo, from Proto-Germanic *drupô. The sense "licorice" developed from the sense "drop of licorice extract"; compare also English lemon drop.

Noun

drop f (plural droppen, diminutive dropje n)

  1. droplet

Synonyms

Noun

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

  1. licorice, especially a distinct form of very salty licorice sold as small round candies.

Derived terms

  • droplul

Anagrams


French

Etymology

Borrowing from English drop.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dʁɔp/

Noun

drop m (plural drops)

  1. (rugby) drop goal

Polish

Noun

drop m anim

  1. bustard

Declension