In some places, a tattoo of a teardrop refers to a lengthy prison sentence, and in other places, it may mean that the person who has the tattoo has committed a crime that lead to the loss of life.  When the tattoo is only an outline or a teardrop, it is said to mean that the person was involved in an attempted crime that could have lead to the loss of life, or it could mean that an inmate’s friend was lost and they are seeking revenge. On a different note, in the popular show Game of Thrones, a teardrop tattoo was used to signify that a woman was in the trade of selling her body.