4 VERB If you drop something somewhere or if it drops there, you deliberately let it fall there. □ [V n prep/adv] Drop the noodles into the water. □ [V prep/adv] …shaped pots that simply drop into their own container. □ [V ] Bombs drop round us and the floor shudders. ● drop|ping N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] …the dropping of the first atomic bomb.
5 VERB If a person or a part of their body drops to a lower position, or if they drop a part of their body to a lower position, they move to that position, often in a tired and lifeless way. □ [V prep/adv] Nancy dropped into a nearby chair. □ [V ] She let her head drop. □ [V n prep/adv] He dropped his hands on to his knees.
6 VERB [no cont] To drop is used in expressions such as to be about to drop and to dance until you drop to emphasize that you are exhausted and can no longer continue doing something. [EMPHASIS ] □ [V ] She looked about to drop.
7 VERB If a man drops his trousers, he pulls them down, usually as a joke or to be rude. □ [V n] A couple of boozy revellers dropped their trousers.
8 VERB If your voice drops or if you drop your voice, you speak more quietly. □ [V + to ] Her voice will drop to a dismissive whisper. □ [V n] He dropped his voice and glanced round at the door. [Also V , V n to n]
9 VERB If you drop someone or something somewhere, you take them somewhere and leave them there, usually in a car or other vehicle. □ [V n prep/adv] He dropped me outside the hotel. ● PHRASAL VERB Drop off means the same as drop . □ [V n P prep/adv] Just drop me off at the airport. □ [V P n] He was dropping off a late birthday present.
10 VERB If you drop an idea, course of action, or habit, you do not continue with it. □ [V n] The prosecution was forced to drop the case. ● drop|ping N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] This was one of the factors that led to the President 's dropping of his previous objections.
11 VERB [usu passive] If someone is dropped by a sports team or organization, they are no longer included in that team or employed by that organization. □ [be V -ed] The country's captain was dropped from the tour party to England.
12 VERB If you drop a game or part of a game in a sports competition, you lose it. □ [V n] Oremans has yet to drop a set.
13 VERB If you drop to a lower position in a sports competition, you move to that position. □ [V prep/adv] Britain has dropped from second to third place in the league.
14 N‑COUNT A drop of a liquid is a very small amount of it shaped like a little ball. In informal English, you can also use drop when you are referring to a very small amount of something such as a drink. □ [+ of ] …a drop of blue ink. □ I'll have another drop of that Italian milk.
15 N‑PLURAL [oft n N ] Drops are a kind of medicine which you put drop by drop into your ears, eyes, or nose. □ …eye drops.
16 N‑COUNT [usu pl, n N ] Fruit or chocolate drops are small round sweets with a fruit or chocolate flavour.
17 N‑COUNT You use drop to talk about vertical distances. For example, a thirty-foot drop is a distance of thirty feet between the top of a cliff or wall and the bottom of it. □ There was a sheer drop just outside my window.
18 PHRASE If you drop a hint , you give a hint or say something in a casual way. □ If I drop a few hints he might give me a cutting.
19 PHRASE If you want someone to drop the subject , drop it , or let it drop , you want them to stop talking about something, often because you are annoyed that they keep talking about it. □ Mary Ann wished he would just drop it.
20 → see also air drop
21 drop (down) dead → see dead
22 at the drop of a hat → see hat
23 a drop in the ocean → see ocean
▸ drop by PHRASAL VERB If you drop by , you visit someone informally. □ [V P ] She and Danny will drop by later. □ [V P n] He dropped by my office this morning.
▸ drop in PHRASAL VERB If you drop in on someone, you visit them informally, usually without having arranged it. □ [V P ] Why not drop in for a chat? □ [V P + on ] She spent most of the day dropping in on friends in Edinburgh.
▸ drop off
1 → see drop 9
2 PHRASAL VERB If you drop off to sleep, you go to sleep. [INFORMAL ] □ [V P + to sleep ] I must have dropped off to sleep. □ [V P ] Just as I was dropping off, a strange thought crossed my mind.
3 PHRASAL VERB If the level of something drops off , it becomes less. □ [V P ] Sales to the British forces are expected to drop off.
▸ drop out
1 PHRASAL VERB If someone drops out of college or a race, for example, they leave it without finishing what they started. □ [V P + of ] He'd dropped out of high school at the age of 16. □ [V P ] She dropped out after 20 kilometres with stomach trouble.
2 PHRASAL VERB If someone drops out , they reject the accepted ways of society and live outside the usual system. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V P ] She encourages people to keep their jobs rather than dropping out to live in a commune.