Word: drop Part of Speech: noun Etymology: 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 *dreupaną (“to drip, droop”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to drip, drop”). Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Droupe, Druppe (“drop”), Dutch drop, drup (“droplet”), German Tropfen (“drop”), German Low German Drüpp (“drop”), Luxembourgish Drëps (“drop”), Vilamovian tropa, troppa (“drop”), Yiddish טראָפּן (tropn, “drop”), Danish dråbe (“drop”), Faroese and Icelandic dropi (“drop”), Norwegian Bokmål dråpe (“drop”), Norwegian Nynorsk drope (“drop”), Swedish droppe (“drop”). Pronunciation: /dɹɒp/, /dɹɑp/, [dɹɑp], [d͡ʒɹɑp] 1. A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid. Labels: also, figuratively Example: Put three drops of oil into the mixture. Example: A circular horizontal surface of indefinite diameter gave a drop of water weighing 2·10 grains. This is therefore the weight of the maximum drop formed on a flat surface, and it will be seen that it very nearly coincides with the weight of the drop formed upon a surface seven-tenths of an inch diameter. The drop in this case is always formed at the centre of the surface, this being the centre of the greatest molecular attraction amongst the liquid particles. 2. A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid. Labels: also, figuratively Example: 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. Example: 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. 3. A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own rounded shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid. Labels: also, figuratively, in-plural Example: ear drops eye drops 4. A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything. Labels: figuratively Example: My aunt asked for just a drop more tea. Example: He was thirsty but there wasn’t a drop of water to be found 5. A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything. Labels: Australia, UK, figuratively Example: He usually enjoys a drop after dinner. She won’t touch a drop while she’s on duty. 6. A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything. Labels: UK, figuratively Example: It doesn’t matter where you’re from, anyone who enjoys the drop is a friend of mine. Example: 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. 7. A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything. Labels: Ireland, figuratively, informal 8. That which hangs or resembles a liquid globule, such as a hanging diamond earring or ornament, a glass pendant on a chandelier, etc. 9. That which hangs or resembles a liquid globule, such as a hanging diamond earring or ornament, a glass pendant on a chandelier, etc. 10. A thing which drops or hangs down. 11. A thing which drops or hangs down. Example: 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. Example: 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. 12. A thing which drops or hangs down. Example: Yet another drop for the Tiger tight end. 13. A thing which drops or hangs down. Example: […] and lo! the gallows is built up; the solemn bell tolls through the dismal gray of the early morning, the drop creaks under the guilty feet, and the penalty of crime is paid. Example: She. Have you ever seen a man hanged? He. Yes. Once. She. What was it for? He. Murder, of course. She. Murder. Is that so great a sin after all? I wonder how he felt before the drop fell. 14. A thing which drops or hangs down. Labels: Internet 15. A thing which drops or hangs down. 16. A thing which drops or hangs down. Example: Do a drop for the telephone gang, then another drop for the Internet gang, both through the ceiling of the wiring closet. 17. A thing which drops or hangs down. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 18. A thing which drops or hangs down. Example: 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[…]). Example: 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. 19. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Example: That was a long drop, but fortunately I didn’t break any bones. Example: 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. 20. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Example: The delivery driver has to make three more drops before lunch. Example: The spy made the drop, leaving the plans under the tree as arranged. 21. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Example: 2002 saw the drop of a new album whose title riffed on the many magazine cover stories calling Sum 41's music infectious. Example: Turned out this was the drop party for popster Effigy's latest release, BeatMeKickMeHoldMe. 22. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Example: 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. 23. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Labels: informal Example: [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. 24. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). 25. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis Example: The Tiger quarterback took a one-step drop, expecting his tight end to be open. 26. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 27. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 28. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis 29. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Example: You take off, make the steep drop, hear the white water rumbling behind you and feel the spray on your back. 30. An act or instance of dropping (in all senses). Labels: US, dated 31. A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate. Example: The drop in demand for oil resulted in a drop in prices. Example: [T]he volume of money was expected to fluctuate with the volume of business activity so that a drop in business activity would bring a drop in the volume of money outstanding. […] If the volume of money is reduced, it tends to produce a slight drop in demand for all sorts of commodities. 32. A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate. 33. A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate. 34. The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. Example: On one side of the road was a 50-foot drop. Example: 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. 35. The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. 36. The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. 37. The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. 38. The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level. Example: 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. Example: Her mainyard was 80 feet long, and her mainsail had a drop of 40 feet. 39. 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. Example: I left the plans at the drop, like you asked. Example: A drop is a place where the stolen property can be stored. It may be a warehouse, an apartment, or a garage. At the drop, a group of persons called loaders remove the merchandise from the truck and store it. 40. Only used in get the drop on, have the drop on: an advantage. Labels: informal 41. 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. Example: But musical ancestry aside, the influence to which [Justin] Bieber is most beholden is the current trends in pop music, which means Believe is loaded up with EDM [electronic dance music] 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). Example: Just as dubstep has grown in popularity and combined with many different genres, the drop has become a generalized type of which there are many individually varying instances, including dubstep bass-drop. As LA Times critic Randall Roberts notes, even good-girl tween pop idol Taylor Swift uses a drop in her Max-Martin-Produced track “I Knew You Were Trouble.” 42. An automobile with a drop-top roof, a convertible. Labels: US, slang 43. A place (specified by an ordinal) in the batting order after the openers. Example: `Well what about first drop then? Garner will be on by then, I'll smash him all over the park.'