| 释义 |
▪ I. drop, n.|drɒp|
Forms: 1 dropa, 2–7 drope, 4–7 droppe, 3– drop (5 droupe, 6– Sc. drap).
[In I. repr. OE. dropa wk. masc. = OS. dropo (MDu. droppe, Du. drop), OHG. troffo, tropfo (MHG. tropfe, Ger. tropfen), ON. dropi (Sw. droppe):—OTeut. *dropon- and *droppon-, f. u- grade of ablaut stem dreup-, draup-, drup-.
The affinities of the drop, dreep, drip, dripe, droop family of words are here exhibited for reference from their respective places:
I. The original strong vb.: OTeut. *dreup-, draup-, drup-; in ON. drjúpa (Sw. drȳpa), OHG. triofan (Ger. triefen), OS. driopan, OE. dréopan, ME. drepe, dreep v.
II. From au- grade: Causal *draupjan; in ON. dreypa, OHG. troufen, OS. *drôpian, OE. *dríepan, drýpan, ME. dripe v.
III. From ū- grade: ON. drúpr n.; drúpa vb. (:—*drūpē-, corresp. to a Gothic *drūpan, -aida), ME. droupen, droop v., also droop a. and n., droopen v.
IV. From u- grade: i. *dropon- n. (pre-Teut. *dhrubón-), in ON. dropi, OHG. troffo, OS. dropo, OE. dropa, drop n. Thence *dropōjan, OE. dropian, drop v. Also *drupjan, in OE. dryppan, ME. dryppe, drip v.
2. -pp forms, originating in assimilation of pre-Teut. -bn to -bb, OTeut. -pp, in n. *dhrubō(n, gen. dhrubnós, assimilated dhrubbós, in OTeut. *dropó(n, dropp-; whence, by levelling, *droppo(n-: in OHG. tropfo, OE. *droppa, ME. droppe: see drop n. From this, *droppōjan, OHG. tropfôn, OE. droppian, drop v. Also *druppjan, in ON. *dryppa, Da. dryppe: see drip v.]
I. The original n.
* Primary sense.
1. a. The smallest quantity of liquid that falls or detaches itself, or is produced, in a spherical or pear-shaped form; a globule of liquid.
c825Vesp. Psalter xliv. 9 [xlv. 8] Myrre & dropa. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xxii. 44 And his swat wæs swylce blodes dropan [Lindisf. G. dropps, Hatton dropen] on eorðan yrnende. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 34 Læt ᵹedreopan on þa eaᵹan ænne dropan. a1225Ancr. R. 184 Nout so muche ase a lutel deawes drope aȝean þe brode see. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 560 An vewe dropes of reine þer velle. a1300Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) 213 If hit is cold up an heȝ the dropen falleth to snowe. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxiv. (1495) 456 A droppe is callyd Stilla while it fallith, and gutta while it stondyth or hangyth. c1400Destr. Troy 3320 Elan..driet the dropis of hir dregh teris. 1563W. Fulke Meteors (1640) 49 b, Why raine falleth in round drops. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 750 On his hanging Ears..Sweat in clammy Drops appears. 1831Brewster Optics xxxii. 265 Drops of rain, which we know to be small spheres. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 145 The hypodermal layer of tissue containing drops of oil and resin.
b. fig. Of things immaterial.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 94 To instill sweete droppes of consolation, into your heart wounded with anguish. 15971st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. i. 319 I have bespringled them pritilie with the drops of my bountie. a1687Waller (J.), Admiring in the gloomy shade, Those little drops of light. 1784Cowper Task iii. 46 To preserve thy sweets Unmix'd with drops of bitter.
c. drop serene, transl. of L. gutta serena, an old name for the disease of the eye called amaurosis.
1667Milton P.L. iii. 25 So thick a drop serene hath quencht thir Orbs. 1822–34Good Study Med. (ed. 4) III. 175 The Gutta Serena of the Arabic writers, whence the term ‘Drop Serene’ of our own tongue.
d. Advb. phr. drop by drop [by prep. 25 c]: in successive drops; slowly and gradually. Also attrib. or as n., and fig.
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. iii. 134 And shed my deere blood drop by drop i'th dust. 1598― Merry W. iv. v. 100 They would melt mee out of my fat drop by drop. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lvii. 83 As drop by drop the water falls. 1878Browning La Saisiaz 51 Life's loss drop by drop distilled. 1922D. H. Lawrence Fantasia of Unconscious xi. 198 The agonies and ecstasies of fear and doubt and drop-by-drop fulfillment. 1948L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 20 The drop-by-drop Of games like darts or chess. 1959Times 16 Sept. 11/6 The steady drop-by-drop expenditure on small items.
2. ellipt. or absolutely: = tear-drop; also drop of sweat, blood, dew, rain, according to context.
c1000Azariah 64 in Exeter Bk., Þonne on sumeres tid sended weorþeð dropena dreorung mid dæᵹes hwile. c1400Destr. Troy 7997 Achilles..warmyt in yre..That the droupes, as a dew, dankit his fas. Ibid. 9216 He dride vp his dropes for dymyng his ene. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 1228 The maid with swelling drops gan wet Her circled eyne. 1607― Cor. v. i. 10 I vrg'd our old acquaintance, and the drops That we haue bled together. 1620Quarles Div. Poems, Jonah (1638) 6 Tradesmen arise, and plie your thriving shops With truer hands, and eate your meat with drops. a1657Lovelace Poems (1864) 157 One drop, let fall From her, might save the universal ball. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. xviii, They would be faithful to him to the last drop. 1887Bowen Virg. æneid iii. 175 Cold drops over me streaming, I leapt forthwith from my bed.
3. spec. In dispensing and administering medicines, etc., the smallest separable quantity of a liquid.
1772T. Percival Ess. Med. & Exper. (1777) I. 97 Forty drops of the acid of vitriol. 1811A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) p. lxxxii, The London College have introduced the last measure [minim] as a substitute for the drop, the inaccuracy of which had been long experienced; as the fluidity and specific gravity of the liquid, the thickness of the lip of the phial, and even its degree of inclination, were all liable to vary its size. 1822–34Good Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 344 Twenty drops of turpentine, with four black drops, were given every four hours.
4. pl. A medicinal preparation to be taken or administered in drops. Rarely sing.
1726Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 47 Adding some of the chymical Drops into any liquid she shall drink. 1727–51Chambers Cycl., Guttæ Anglicanæ, English drops, volatile English drops, or Goddard's drops, a name of a medicinal liquor. 1728Swift Jrnl. Mod. Lady 205 Here, Betty, let me take my drops. 1810Crabbe Borough vii. Wks. 1834 III. 133 Tincture or syrup, lotion, drop or pill.
** The amount of a drop, a very small quantity.
5. a. Such a quantity as would fall in, or form, a single drop; the smallest appreciable quantity.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 100/290 Nouȝt o drope of blode. a1300Cursor M. 16814 + 39 Þen miȝt þei..More blode fynd none, But þat sely drope þat was In his hert. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 124 Þei comaunden to drynke a drope of water. 1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 104 b, Writers: who, with one drop or two of inke, may prolong our life. 1700S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 9 A man may as well steal all one's money, as a drop of Water from any one. 1786Burns Sc. Drink vii, His wee drap parritch. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. ii. ix, Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink. 1816Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 163 Suspected of a drop of Moorish blood in their composition.
b. a drop in the (a) bucket or the ocean: a quantity bearing an infinitesimally small proportion to the whole.
1382Wyclif Isa. xl. 15 Lo! Jentiles as a drope of a boket, and as moment of a balaunce ben holden. 1611ibid., The nations are as a drop of a bucket. 1693W. Freke Sel. Ess. xxxiii. 206 The Invisible, Infinite and Eternal Maker of all things..to whom the Whole Globe is but as a drop of the Bucket. 1844Dickens Christmas Carol i, The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the..ocean of my business. 1853Mrs. Gaskell Cranford xiv. 221 That little would be but as a drop in the sea of the debts of the Town and County Bank. 1921H. Crane Let. 17 Oct. (1965) 67 Sara Teasdale, Marguerite Wilkinson, Lady Speyer, etc., to mention a few drops in the bucket of feminine lushness. 1962D. Mayo Island of Sin viii. 62 Five thousand dollars, he asked for—a mere drop in the bucket, no doubt, considering the offhand manner in which the request was made. 1968Listener 23 May 658/3 It's very important to me that Jennie Lee does care a lot about the provinces. But what she has given is only a drop in the ocean.
6. spec. A small quantity of drink or intoxicating liquor. to have a drop in one's eye: to show signs of having had a glass. to take one's drops: to drink hard, to tipple.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Drop-in-his-eye, almost drunk. 1738Swift Pol. Conv. i. Wks. 1778 X. 159 You must own you had a drop in your eye; When I left you, you were half seas over. 1775Sir M. Hunter Jrnl. (1894) 21 The captain's servant..liked a drop as well as his master. c1793Spirit Pub. Jrnls. (1799) I. 10 If I like any drop—but a drop in my eye. 1828Craven Dial., Drops, ‘to take one's drops,’ to drink hard, applied to one who drinks spirits. 1886Stevenson Pr. Otto i. iv, I have had a drop, but I had not been drinking. 1888J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge (Tauchn.) II. xi. 119, I went to the Chequers and had a drop too much.
7. transf. and fig. A minute quantity, portion, or particle of anything immaterial.
c1398Chaucer Fortune 58 I the lente a drope of my rychesse. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xx. 66 Is there in the no drope of kyndenesse. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. ii. 195 Take paine To allay with some cold drops of modestie Thy skipping spirit. 1607T. Walkington Opt. Glass xii. (1664) 131 Having a drop of Words, and a floud of Cogitations. 1813Byron Giaour 263 Gather in that drop of time A life of pain, an age of crime.
8. An obsolete Scotch weight, = 1/16 of an ounce.
In the Scottish Troy or Dutch weight = 29·722 troy grains; in Scottish Tron weight = 37·588 troy grains (the pound of 16 oz. being in the former = 7609 gr., in the latter 9622·6 gr.).
1640–1Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 35, xj spoones, Scots worke, weghtan xiij unce iij dropes. 1673Acc. Bk. Sir J. Foulis (1894) 14 A quech weighting 18 unce and 10 drop. 1805Forsyth Beauties Scotl. I. 78 Archers consider an arrow of from 20 to 24 drop weight to be the best for flight.
*** Something like a drop in appearance.
†9. A spot of colour (like the mark or stain of a drop); also fig., spot, stain. Obs.
c1420Pallad. on Husb. vi. 236 O Sone of God allone, O Sapience, O Hope, of synys drope or fraude immuyn. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 80 The other all blacke, dropped wt silver droppes. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 91 Their belly is parted with black strakes and drops. 1674N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. ii. (1677) 213 The points and extremities of their Feathers full of white drops.
10. Applied to various objects resembling a drop of liquid in size, shape, or pendent character.
a. A pendant of metal or precious stone, as an ear-drop; a glass pendant of a chandelier, etc.
1502Priv. Purse Exp. Eliz. of York (1830) 21 Spangelles settes..sterrys dropes and pointes..for garnisshing of jakettes. 1682Lond. Gaz. No. 1750/4 A pair of Diamond Pendants, with Roses, and Knots and Drops. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 140 A pair of ·ear-rings..with a fine drop. 1861Macm. Mag. Jan. 186 (Hoppe) Cut drops of a glass chandelier. 1885Scribner's Mag. XXX. 728/1 A large silver urn bedecked with the drop-and-garland of Queen Anne's time.
b. Arch. (pl.) The frusta of cones used under the triglyphs in the architrave of the Doric Order below the tænia; also in the under part of the mutuli or modillions. (L. guttæ.) (Gwilt.)
1696Phillips (ed. 5), Dropp..an Ornament in the Pillars of the Doric Order, underneath the Triglyphs; representing Dropps or little Bells.
c. Naut. See quot.
c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 116 Drops are..small foliages of carved-work in the stern-munnions.
†d. Small shot. Cf. also drop-shot in 23. Obs.
1752Maccoll in Scots Mag. Aug. (1753) 397/2 The..gun..was charged with powder and small drops. 1825–80Jamieson s.v. Draps, Lead draps, small shot of every description.
e. A lozenge or sugar-plum, originally of spherical form, but now of various shapes. Freq. with defining word prefixed, as acid drop, cough-drop, peppermint-drop (see the first elements). Also a cake shaped like a drop or made by dropping a mixture on to paper, etc. (cf. drop-cake, -scone).
1723J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. §91 To make Bisket Drops. 1728E. Smith Compleat Housewife (ed. 2) 178 To make Rose Drops. 1818Keats Let. 24 Mar. (1958) I. 256 Very fond of peppermint drops. 1819Ibid. 12 Apr. (1958) II. 52 As fine as barley sugar drops are to a schoolboy's tongue. 1836–9Dickens Sk. Boz, Astleys, Ma, in the openness of her heart, offered the governess an acidulated drop. 1851Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. I. 202 Fancy chocolate in drops.
f. Name of a variety of plum, gooseberry, etc.
1883G. Allen in Colin Clout's Cal. 197 Orleans plums, and golden drops, which differ..in their fruit.
g. Applied to flowers with pendent blossoms, as the fuchsia (dial.), and in comb., as snowdrop.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 226 December..Flowers in Prime..Snow-flowers or Drops, Yucca, etc. 1892Northumbld. Gloss., Drops, the common name for fuchsia.
h. (Prince) Rupert's Drops: see quots.
1662Merrett tr. Neri's Art of Glass 353 An Account of the Glass drops. These Drops were first brought into England by His Highness Prince Rupert out of Germany. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Rupert's Drops, a sort of glass drops with long and slender tails, which burst to pieces, on the breaking off those tails in any parts. 1833N. Arnott Physics (ed. 5) II. i. 24 A toy called a Prince Rupert's Drop (a pear-shaped lump of glass with a slender stalk).
†11. A disease: in quot. 1559 (and prob. in c 1000) gout. (= med.L. gutta, F. goutte.) Obs.
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 236 Heo ælc yfel blod and þæne dropan ᵹewyldeþ. Ibid. 376 Wið fot adle, and wið ðone dropan nim datulus. 1559Morwyng Evonym. 241 This..cureth all scabbednes and the drop. Ibid., Sod with bran and drunnken it driveth away all droppes.
II. Secondary n., f. drop v.
* The action.
12. a. The action or an act of dropping, in various senses, e.g. the fall of a minute particle of liquid; an abrupt and clear fall or vertical descent in space; a decided descent professionally or socially: see the vb. † to give one the drop: to give one the slip (obs.).
1637B. Jonson Sad Sheph. i. ii, My slow drop of tears. 1708S. Centlivre Busie Body iii. v, I'll give him the drop, and away to Guardian's, and find it out. 1832W. Irving Alhambra I. 288 The..fountain with its eternal drop-drop and splash-splash. 1851Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) III. 99 (Hoppe), I..began pitching in the street. I didn't much like it, after being a regular performer, and looked upon it as a drop. 1855Browning By Fireside xi, The drop of the woodland fruit's begun These early November hours. 1884Pall Mall G. 28 Aug. 5/1 The force of gravity, which has far greater influence than any other in determining the course of the bullet, and is called ‘the drop’ of the bullet.
b. slang. Cf. drop-cove, drop-game in 23.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., The game of ring-dropping is called the drop. 1823in Grose.
c. With adverbs, as drop in, out: see drop-in n. and a., drop-out.
d. = drop-kick.
1845[see punt n.3 1]. 1864[see touch n. 12]. 1897[see centre n. 11 d]. 1960E. S. & W. J. Higham High Speed Rugby ii. 31 The method for practising the drop should be the same as described above for the punt.
e. A drop-stroke (see drop-); see also quot. 1900.
1900G. E. A. Ross in A. E. T. Watson Young Sportsman 609 The second contact of the ball with the floor [in tennis], called the fall..as distinguished from its first bound or contact, called the drop of the ball. 1909Cent. Dict. Suppl., Drop, in tennis, a ball so struck by the racket as to shoot sharply downward after crossing the net. 1933Times 18 Nov. 5/7 Time and again his forehand drop went too low. 1960Times 3 Dec. 3/4 He was pushing at attempted forehand drops.
f. In a card-game, esp. Bridge, a situation in which a particular card is dropped (see drop v. 3 d).
1936Culbertson Contract Bridge Complete xxxix. 441 Even when the odds favour a play for a drop, tactical considerations may make a finesse necessary. 1959Listener 7 May 808/2 If East wins with the King the declarer must still decide whether to play the finesse or the drop on the second round. 1969D. Hayden Winning Declarer Play (1970) i. i. 12 In the absence of any other information it is fractionally better to play for the drop.
g. Aeronaut. (a) The act of dropping men, supplies, etc., from an aircraft; cf. air-drop (air n.1 B. III. 2). (b) The landing of an aircraft or the like.
1943Time 29 Nov. 10/1 A U.S. Supply Plane Makes a ‘Drop’ in the Chin Hills. 1954X. Fielding Hide & Seek 72 A parachute drop in an island as mountainous as Crete was always an arduous and dangerous business. 1956‘J. Wyndham’ Seeds of Time 46 The ship had..made her successful last drop to Mars. 1971R.A.F. Quarterly Spring 3 Nearly every mission was flown and nearly every drop was successful.
13. fig. A sheer fall or descent in anything measured by a scale; e.g. in prices, values, atmospheric pressure, temperature, etc.
1847–78Halliwell, Drop, a reduction of wages. 1883Daily News 12 July 3/5 A portion of the hands..have abided by the agreement and gone in again at the drop. 1884Manch. Exam. 29 Oct. 4/4 Owing to the drop in exchanges and higher rates of discount. Mod. There has been a great drop in the temperature since yesterday morning.
14. a. to get (have) the drop on, colloq. (orig. U.S.): to get (have) a person at a disadvantage; orig. to have the chance to shoot before the antagonist can use his weapon. Hence the drop = the advantage.
1869A. K. McClure Rocky Mts. xxiv. 233 So expert is he with his faithful pistol, that the most scientific of rogues have repeatedly attempted in vain to get ‘the drop’ on him. 1875J. Miller First Fam'lies vii. 55 It was strange that Sandy did not pull.., at all events he had the ‘drop’, and could afford to wait..and see what he [sc. the Parson] would do. 1883Harper's Mag. Jan. 208/1 The men..were always waiting to ‘get the drop’ on somebody. 1884U.S. Newspaper, The Sheriff and his deputies..having the drop on the outlaw he surrendered quietly. 1893McCarthy Red Diamonds II. 27 It was my own fault for letting them get the chance to have the drop on me. 1915A. Conan Doyle Valley of Fear i. vii. 140 He'd have had the drop on me with that buckshot gun of his before ever I could draw on him. 1917J. Ferguson Stealthy Terror xiii. 288 He had got ‘the drop’ on us, and he knew it. 1918C. E. Mulford Man from Bar-20 149 Th' man with the drop can find a lot to say, if he's a tin-horn. 1940‘N. Blake’ Malice in Wonderland i. viii. 107 He suspects Miss Thistlethwaite..of having got the drop on him. 1959J. Christopher Scent of White Poppies ix. 147 Two of us can handle it... We shall have the drop on them. 1970New Yorker 23 May 27/2 F.B.I. agents had been trying to ‘crawl up through the belly of the plane either to get the drop on him [sc. a hijacker] or to get a shot at him’.
b. at the drop of a (occas. the) hat: promptly, immediately. orig. U.S. colloq.
1854J. B. Jones Life of Country Merchant xv. 175 You said you'd marry me at the drop of a hat! 1887M. Roberts Western Avernus 43 Ready to quarrel ‘at the drop of a hat’, as the American saying goes. 1901Ade Forty Modern Fables 49 Every Single Man in Town was ready to Marry her at the Drop of the Hat. 1944M. Sharp Cluny Brown iv. 30 Miss Cream's visit coincided with a week of superb weather. At the drop of a hat she stripped and sunbathed—or rather, a hat was the only thing she didn't drop. 1958M. Dickens Man Overboard xi. 165 The invaluable ability to write an article about almost anything under the sun at the drop of a hat.
15. The act of dropping or giving birth to young; the produce so dropped.
1891Australasian 320/4 The bulk [of the lambs] consisted of this season's drop.
** That which drops or is used for dropping.
16. In a theatre: The painted curtain let down between the acts of a play to shut off the stage from the view of the audience; also called act drop, and (less technically) drop-curtain. Also, a piece of scenery, usu. a large flat (flat n.3 11), lowered on to the stage from the flies.
1779Sheridan Critic ii. ii, The carpenters say, that unless there is some business put in here before the drop, they shan't have time to clear away the fort. 1807[see flat n.3 11]. 1859Sala Gaslight & D. ii. 21 Long cylinders, or rollers, used for ‘drops’. 1896C. Wyndham in Daily News 2 May 8/2 The curtain which will fall to-night upon the drama..will not be a final curtain, but only an act drop serving to divide one section of a career, one stage of friendship from the next. 1913, etc. [see back-drop s.v. back- B]. 1951R. Southern in Oxf. Compan. Theatre 200/2 Drop, an unframed piece of scenery, first used about 1690, usually a canvas backcloth. It had the advantage of offering an unbroken plain surface for painting, free from any central join such as marked the alternative ‘pair of flats’.
17. a. A small platform or trap-door on the gallows, on which the condemned stands with the halter round his neck, and which is let fall from under his feet. By extension, the gallows; the act of hanging.
1796Grose Dict. Vulg. T. s.v., The new drop; a contrivance for executing felons at Newgate. 1810Bentham Packing (1821) 121 The New Drop. 1813Examiner 18 Jan. 43/2 The drop fell. They were executed in their irons. 1843Sir P. Laurie in Croker Papers (1884) III. xxiii. 15 The first attempt at something like a drop in hanging criminals was at the execution of Lord Ferrers at Tyburn in 1760, but..it was not adopted as the general mode of execution till 1783, when ten felons were executed on the 9th of December..for the first time in front of Newgate, on a new drop or scaffold hung with black. 1846Swell's Night Guide 118/1 Drop, the squeezer at Newgate. 1887Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.) 1 May 20/5 The condemned walked firmly to the drop. 1924E. Wallace Room 13 v. 56, I have a particular objection to Peter going to the drop. 1958F. Norman Bang to Rights 39 It comes to the morning when he is going to get the drop.
b. = fence n. 8 a. Thieves' slang.
1915Times 19 Mar. 5/5 The Magistrate.—I thought that they called these men ‘fences’. Mr. Pearce.—Perhaps the fashion has changed. One usually associates a ‘drop’ with a more serious offence. 1937C. R. Cooper Here's to Crime vi. 133 All shops, whether or not they be fences or ‘drops’ for numerous thieves, can escape detection. 1962K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed xix. 139 You say you buy expensive jewels. You say you pay better prices than ordinary drops do.
c. A hiding-place for stolen, smuggled, or illicit goods (see quots.). slang.
1931in Partridge Dict. Underworld (1950) 207/2 Drop, a hiding place for liquor; a depot where smuggled liquors are deposited to be picked up by other members of the gang or by customers. 1933H. J. Lee Eagle Police Manual 147 Drop joints, places selected for temporarily depositing stolen goods. 1934H. N. Rose Thes. Slang iii. 20/1 Hiding place for liquor in a car,..a drop; trap. 1937C. R. Cooper Here's to Crime xv. 332 In the transfer from dock to dock, bribed truck drivers run the shipment into a ‘drop’, extract the narcotics, and put real merchandise in their place. 1947Amer. Mercury Apr. 430/1 The immediate problem after a trucking theft is to unload the merchandise and abandon the empty truck. For this purpose the gang must have a ‘drop’ where the loot can be stored until the fence can arrange for its sale and distribution. 1962K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed xxii. 164 Employing an expensive West End brothel..as a heroin drop.
d. A place, usu. secret, where letters, information, etc., may be passed on to, or left to be collected by, another person, as in espionage. slang.
1959R. Condon Manchurian Candidate (1960) xix. 232 An hour after Chunjin had made his report to the Soviet security drop from the red telephone booth..a meeting was called. 1960‘E. S. Aarons’ Assignment Mara Tirana (1966) iii. 28 An informer came to our drop in Vienna, from over in Bratislava. 1965I. Fleming Man with Golden Gun ix. 124 They had arranged an emergency meeting place and a postal ‘drop’.
18. a. Variously applied to things which drop or fall from a height, and to mechanical contrivances arranged to descend, or fall from an elevated position: see quots.b. A movable plate covering the key-hole of a lock. c. The slit or aperture of a letter-box (U.S.).
a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Draps, fruit in an orchard dropping before it is fit to be gathered. 1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, Drop, a machine for lowering coals from railway staiths into the holds of colliers. 1864Webster, Drop..a contrivance for temporarily lowering a gas-jet. 1864[see drop-press s.v. drop-]. 1874Knight Dict. Mech., Drop, a swaging-hammer which drops between guides. 1879Postal Laws & Reg. of U.S. 427 Drop, the opening in a post-office or mail apartment of a car for the mailing of letters..by the public. 1880W. Cornwall Gloss., Drops, window-blinds. ‘I knew he was dead—the drops were down’.
d. Money, esp. when given as alms or a bribe; also, the act of giving it. slang.
1931C. Massie Confessions of Vagabond vii. 79 A good ten minutes before the ‘drop’ you are forced to listen to a tale of woe. 1933‘G. Orwell’ Down & Out xxx. 220 A half-penny's the usual drop (gift). 1939H. Hodge Cab, Sir? 222 To ‘take the drop’ is to accept a bribe.
*** The space, place, or part, in which there is a fall or vertical descent.
19. The distance through which anything drops or is allowed to fall; e.g. the distance through which a criminal drops when hanged.
1879Daily Tel. 6 Sept., I would recommend the drop to be no more than 2½ feet with ordinary sized men. 1884A. Griffiths Chron. Newgate vi. 174 Sometimes the rope slipped, or the drop was insufficient. 1892Lit. World 3 June 534/3 As to the length of the drop there has been prolonged controversy.
20. The depth to which anything sinks or is sunk below the general level.
1794Rigging & Seamanship I. 87 Drop of a sail, a term sometimes used to courses and topsails instead of depth. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 116 Drop, the fall or declivity of a deck, which is generally several inches. 1864Webster, Drop..the distance of a shaft below the base of a hanger. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 143 This difference between the theoretical and actual width of the pallet is called the drop. 1889Century Dict., Drop of stock, in firearms, the bend or crook of the stock below the line of the barrel.
21. a. An abrupt descent or fall in the level of a surface.
1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 62 The traveller from the mountain-top Looks down..And meditates beneath the steepy drop What life and lands exist, and rivers flow. 1891C. T. C. James Rom. Rigmarole 166 Another fence loomed ahead..the water meadow beyond it was at a considerably lower level. ‘Look out!’ cried Georgy. ‘It's a biggish drop!’
b. Fortification: see quot.
1874Knight Dict. Mech., Drop, that part of a ditch sunk deeper than the rest, at the sides of a caponniere or in front of an embrasure.
22. An arrangement in a genealogical table, whereby names belonging to a particular horizontal line, where there is no room for them, are carried lower down. Also drop-line: see drop-.
1888Athenæum 14 Jan. 49/3 The excessive use of ‘drops’ may have been necessary; we can, however, but regret the adoption of so distracting a system.
III. 23. attrib. and Comb. (See also drop- the vb.-stem.) a. Of, pertaining to, or consisting of a drop or drops, as drop-earring, drop-fall, drop-falling, drop-ornament, drop-pearl; drop-shot (sense 10 d); drop-bottle (cf. sense 10 e). b. Special comb.: drop-black, a superior quality of bone-black ground in water, formed into drops, and dried; drop-cove (see quot.); drop-dry a., watertight; drop-game (see quot. 1891); drop-meter, an instrument for measuring out liquid drop by drop; drop-sulphur, drop-tin, i.e. that granulated by being dropped in a molten state into cold water; drop test, either of two tests of the strength of an object: (a) one in which the object is dropped in certain specified conditions; (b) one in which a specified weight is dropped on the object from a specified height; so drop-testing vbl. n.
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 222/1 *Drop-black and Indian red. 1891Anthony's Photogr. Bull. IV. 41, I use drop black, as it is already mixed with water, and it is very hard to make the common lamp black mix, owing to its greasiness.
1877W. Thomson Voy. Challenger I. i. 16 ‘*Drop-bottles’ manufactured for holding sweetmeats of various kinds.
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., *Drop-cove, a sharp who practises the game of ring-dropping.
1844Cobden Speeches (1878) 84 The thinly thatched roofs are seldom *drop-dry.
1778Learning at a Loss I. 17 Nobody can appear with a Button bigger than a *Drop Ear-ring. 1801M. Edgeworth Contrast (1832) 180 She wore the drop-earrings.
1382Wyclif Ps. lxiv. 11 [lxv. 10] In his *drope fallingus shal glade the buriounende.
1785Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue, *Drop-game. 1891Farmer Slang, Drop-game, a variety of the confidence trick:—The thief..pretends to pick up (say) a pocket book (snide), which he induces the greenhorn to buy for cash.
1857J. G. Wilkinson Egyptians 87 *Drop ornaments in necklaces.
1707Lond. Gaz. No. 4383/4 Lost..two *Drop-Pearls, Weight 15 Carrets.
1698Ibid. No. 3362/4 *Drop shot of all sizes. 1858Advt. in Greener Gunnery 14 With the largest drop shot, and also with mould shot.
1851Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. I. 122 Crude *drop Sulphur.
1890W. M. Williams Chem. Iron & Steel Making xiii. 236 Prominent among the useful tests is the *drop-test, as applied to steel rails. 1947Shell Aviation News No. 109, 13/1 Drop test rigs for undercarriages are in course of construction. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 22 Mar. 131/2 For the hydraulics system alone Nuffield subjected Tractor Oils Universal to exacting bench and ‘drop’ tests.
1903C. E. Wolff Mod. Loco. Pract. xiii. 212 One wheel out of every 20 or 24 shall be tested to destruction in a *drop testing machine. 1962Aeroplane CIII. No. 2637, 4/3 A technique known as ‘airborne’ drop-testing has been adopted in this rig.
▪ II. drop, v.|drɒp|
Pa. tense and pple. dropped, dropt. Forms: 1 droppian, 2–7 droppe, 4 droupe, 4–5 drope, 5 drappe (7 pa. pple. droppen), 6– Sc. drap, 3– drop.
[OE. dropian, droppian, = MDu. droppen, OHG. troffôn, tropfôn (Ger. tropfen): see note to drop n.]
I. Intransitive senses.
1. Of a liquid: To fall in drops or globules; to exude or distil in drops.
c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) xliv. 10 Myrre, and gutta, and cassia dropiað of þinum claðum. Ibid. (Spelm.) lxxi. 6 Swa swa dropan dropende [Lamb. Ps. droppende] ofer eorþan. 13..Seuyn Sag. (W.) 3884 He..held it vp, For water sold noght tharon drop. 1382Wyclif Ps. lxvii[i]. 9 Heuenus droppeden [Vulg. distillaverunt] doun fro the face of God of Synay. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) x. 38 Apon þe roche dropped blode of þe woundes. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov. 31 The kindly deaw drops from the higher tree. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 958 The crystal tide that from her two cheeks..dropt. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (1888) I. 47 A certane coue, quhairin water continualie drapping..turnes in a verie quhyte stane. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 265 It will distill and drop out of the cicatrized place into the vessel. Mod. The rain drops incessantly from the eaves. Sweat dropped from his brow.
2. a. Of a person or thing: To give off moisture or liquid which falls in drops; = drip v. 2.
a1300Cursor M. 3572 Þe nese it droppes [Fairf. droupes] ai bi-tuine. 1382Wyclif Job xvi. 21 My woordi frendis, myn eȝe droppith [Vulg. stillat] to God. 1490Caxton Eneydos xxviii. 107 The swerde dropped yet of bloode. 1553Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 226 If the chalice drop vpon the altare, let the droppe be supte vp. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. xviii. 499 We, who were dropping with wet. 1825Macaulay Ess., Milton (1887) 14 The rabble of Comus, grotesque monsters, half bestial, half human, dropping with wine.
b. Falconry. (See quots.)
1615Latham Falconry (1633) Vocab., Dropping, is when a Hawke muteth directly downeward, in seuerall drops. 1674N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. ii. (1677) 167 Sliming, is when a Hawk muteth without dropping.
3. a. To fall vertically, like a single drop, under the simple influence of gravity; to descend.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvi. 79 Euere as þei [apples] dropped adown, Þe deuel was redy, And gadred hem alle togideres. 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. ii. 140 Ha'st thou not dropt from heauen? 1700S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 14 One of the Master's Boys..dropt into the Sea. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 140 Birds flying over it dropt down dead. 1890Lloyd's Weekly 30 Nov. 6/2 You could have heard a pin drop. Mod. The sword dropped out of his hand.
b. fig.
1654Jer. Taylor Real Pres. 62 That we may not think this doctrine dropt from S. Austin by chance, he again affirmes [etc.]. 1676Hobbes Iliad i. 237 His words like Honey dropped from his tongue. 1871Roby Lat. Gram. i. viii. 49 This ablatival d has dropped off also from the adverbs supra, infra, &c. Mod. The second t has now dropped out.
c. To have an abrupt descent in position.
1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) s.v., Her maintopsail drops seventeen yards. 1883Stevenson Silverado Sq. 74 In front the ground drops as sharply as it rises behind.
d. Of a card (in Bridge, etc.): to be played in the same trick as a higher card, esp. because of the need to follow suit. Also trans., to play (a card) thus; to cause (a card) to be so played.
1933Culbertson Contract Bridge Blue Bk. (ed. 2) i. iv. 60 Declarer's chances of dropping the outstanding Queen and Knave on the Ace and King leads are proportionately increased. 1936― Contract Bridge Complete xxxix. 441 The ten of spades is led. East covers with the Queen, South wins with the Ace, and West drops the seven. Ibid. 444 The Queen will not drop, for East has followed to three rounds of each suit. 1958Listener 23 Oct. 669/2 For me, the Queen of trumps never drops in a grand slam. 1960T. Reese Play Bridge 115 All follow to the Ace and King of hearts but the Queen does not drop. 1969D. Hayden Winning Declarer Play (1970) i. i. 12 Do you finesse, or do you play the ace hoping the king will drop? Ibid. ii. x. 183 The chances of dropping a singleton queen are 1/6 of 15 percent, or about 2½ percent.
4. a. To sink to the ground like inanimate matter; to fall exhausted, wounded, or dead.
a1400Octouian 567 Neygh to dede we gan drappe. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 169 It was your presurmize, That in the dole of blowes, your Son might drop. 1635J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Banish'd Virg. 226 [They] were ready to drop downe for griefe. 1700S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 76 Tho' thousands of their Men dropt, they would not give ground an Inch. 1841J. Forbes 11 Y. in Ceylon I. 141, I fired; the elephant dropped on his knees. 1856C. J. Andersson Lake Ngami 371 A..giraffe..dropped dead to the first shot.
b. Of a setter, etc.: To squat down or crouch abruptly at the sight of game. Also trans., to cause or order (a dog) to drop.
1840New Monthly Mag. LX. 176 Few French pointers and setters are taught to back or drop. 1870D. P. Blaine Encycl. Rur. Sports §2545 After standing some considerable time, she [a pointer] would drop like a setter, still keeping her nose in an exact line, and would continue in that position until the game moved. 1892Field 7 May 695/3 Druid had birds before him and Blanch a rabbit; the one dropped to wing and the other to fur. 1951C. R. Acton Dog Annual 55 Always ‘drop’ the puppy before ordering him to retrieve.
c. drop dead: a slang (orig. U.S.) exclamation expressing emphatic dislike or scorn of the person addressed. (Cf. quot. 1856 for sense 4 a.)
1934J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra vi. 181 ‘Let's put snow on his face.’ ‘Oh, drop dead,’ said Whit. 1953W. R. Burnett Vanity Row v. 40 ‘It's a pleasure I'm sure,’ said Roy. ‘For who?’ said the girl. ‘Drop dead.’ 1957J. Osborne Look Back in Anger iii. i. 78 Why don't you drop dead! 1959‘O. Mills’ Stairway to Murder xxvi. 256 ‘Drop dead,’ he instructed two equally bruised and breathless corporals. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. iii. 46 The well-worn sentiments..‘Do me a favour—drop dead.’ 1969J. Weidman Centre of Action (1970) xxiii. 238 ‘I mean,’ I said, ‘I don't really know what to say.’ Drop dead seemed singularly inappropriate.
5. a. Of a person or thing: To fall or pass involuntarily or mechanically into some condition.
1654Whitlock Zootomia 411 Many other Townes..silently drop into Dung Hills, without the least mention in History. 1710Prideaux Orig. Tithes v. 278 They had drop'd into absolute oblivion. 1833H. Martineau Manch. Strike vi. 66 For fear you should drop asleep again. 1877A. B. Edwards Up Nile xxii. 706 We soon dropped back into the old life of sight-seeing and shopping.
b. fig. To die. See also drop off, 28 d.
1654Whitlock Zootomia 410 A small Cottage, that hath, as it were, lived and dyed with her old Master, both dropping down together. 1722Digby Let. to Pope 1 Sept., Nothing, says Seneca..so soon reconciles us to the thought of our own death, as the..prospect of one friend after another dropping round us. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xi, I lay five to two, Mathilda drops in a year. 1889Anstey Pariah v. i, I shall have the old place some day, when the old governor drops.
6. To come to an end through not being kept up; to cease, lapse; to fall through.
1697T. Smith in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 257 We must..let our correspondence drop for the present. 1705Hearne Collect. 31 July, The matter was let drop. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 498 The Bill of Rights..in the last Session, had..been suffered to drop. 1896N. & Q. 8th Ser. IX. 161/2 The search after him was not allowed to drop.
7. To fall in direction, condition, amount, degree, force, or pitch; to sink, become depressed.
1729Swift Libel on Delany 15 His visage drops, he knits his brow. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. ii. vi, Down dropt the breeze. 1866Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xiii. 191 The prices slightly dropping afterwards. 1881Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet i. v, His voice had dropped to the lower notes.
8. a. To allow oneself to be carried quietly down stream; to descend without effort, with the tide or a light wind.
1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) II. 378 The Resolution..dropped down the river as far as Woolwich, at which place she was detained by contrary winds. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. i. vi, Merrily did we drop Below the Kirk, below the Hill, Below the light-house top. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xvii. 47 We made sail, dropping slowly down with the tide and light wind. 1894Hall Caine Manxman 425 At the turn of the tide the boats began to drop down the harbour.
b. To let oneself fall behind or to the rear by making no effort to keep ahead or to the front.
1823Crabb Technol. Dict., Drop astern, [used] to denote the retrograde motion of a ship. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales II. 117 Toby then dropped to the hind part of Tickler..and some thought passed the winning post before Idris. 1847Infantry Man. (1854) 86 The officers drop to the rear. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Drop astern, to, to slacken a ship's way, so as to suffer another one to pass beyond her.
9. a. To come or go casually, unexpectedly, or in an apparently undesigned manner (into a place, across, on, upon any person or thing casually met with); to fall upon. Also with adverbs, as by, over, up, etc. See also drop in, 27.
a1633Austin Medit. (1635) 73 Not dropping into Towne, (like men, that follow their private affaires, and no body lookes after them): but, they make their entrance in a publike manner. 1709Steele Tatler No. 47 ⁋5, I looked into Shakespear. The Tragedy I dropped into was, Harry the Fourth. 1853Bright Sp. India 3 June, The gentlemen who drop down there for six..months. 1862Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. i. iii, He's sure to drop across somebody that..wants it. 1877Mrs. Forrester Mignon I. 11 We shall probably drop upon a stray couple of lovers. 1879Farrar St. Paul II. 584 note, When the Church grew, and heathens dropped not unfrequently into its meetings. 1887Lantern (New Orleans) 12 Nov. 3/2 If Superintendent Adams will accidentally-on-purpose drop up there some night perhaps he'll ketch them. 1893‘Mark Twain’ in Authors Club Bk. I. 158, I only just dropped over to ask about the little madam. 1930L. Hughes Not without Laughter xix. 216 Drop by Sunday and lemme know for sure. 1935F. M. Ford Let. 27 Sept. (1965) 244 Wouldn't it be better if you dropped over here for a little and we could talk about the book.
b. Slang phr. to drop (down) to or on (to): to come casually or accidentally to knowledge of (something); to understand, become aware of, recognize. Also absol.
1819Vaux Vocab. Flash Lang. 168 To drop down to a person is to discover or be aware of his character or designs. 1859G. Matsell Vocabulum 54 The copper..could not drop to my chant or mug,..the officer..could not recollect my name or face. 1876Coso Mining News (Darwin, Cal.) 3 June 4/6 Drop on yourself Lent, you are out of season. 1886Lantern (New Orleans) 6 Oct. 2/2 The crowd dropped to his little game. 1887Ibid. 17 Sept. 2/3 The boys..ain't never dropped onto the way of Ed Vaz. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. x. 118, I could see him..watching me when I put on the whole box and dice of the telegraph business. He ‘dropped’, I could see. 1895J. Roberts Diary 31/1, I dropped down to it after a bit. 1901M. E. Ryan Montana viii. 118 As I slipped out through the back door before your visitors left, I dropped to the fact that you had some damage done to that left arm. 1964R. Braddon Year Angry Rabbit xv. 136 It was the only place we could live—without being caught that is. Surprises me you never dropped to it, Mr Prime Minister, sir.
10. To come down upon, on with a surprise, a check, or forcible reproof; to ‘pitch into’. colloq.
1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xxiv. 217 (Farmer) He's welcome to drop into me, right and left. 1857Sessions Paper 9 Apr. 762 If you give me in custody you will be dropped upon for it. 1877Five Years' Penal Serv. iv. 268 (Farmer) Do the police ever drop upon the parties and frustrate their plans? 1894Wilkins & Vivian Green Bay Tree I. 48 The poor Pigeon will get dropped on. 1894G. Moore Esther Waters i. 4 You'll have to mind your p's and q's or else you'll be dropped on. 1919Strand Mag. Apr. 290/2 He'll get dropped on one of these days. 1959Listener 2 Apr. 603/3 The present system creates in the minds of people who are prosecuted the feeling that it is unfair that they have been dropped on and other people have not.
II. Transitive senses.
11. To let fall or shed (liquid) in drops or small portions; to distil; to shed (tears). Also fig. ? Obs.
a1340Hampole Psalter Prol., Þai drope swetnes in mannys saule. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 101 Herbes groweþ þeron þat droppeþ gom. a1400–50Alexander 3801 A litill drysnyng of dewe was droppid fra þe heuen. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. iii. (R.), That the thyng..be stilled, & as it wer dropped into the heartes of men. a1626Bp. Andrewes Serm. (1641) 429 If these eyes of Iob have droppen many a teare. 1741Compl. Fam.-Piece i. i. 14 Drop in it thirty or forty of Jones's Drops. 1798Jane Austen Let. 27 Oct. (1952) 23, I had the dignity of dropping out my mother's laudanum last night.
absol.1393Gower Conf. III. 36 Sende Lazar..that he his finger wete In water, so that he maie droppe Upon my tonge. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 19 In summers drought Ile drop vpon thee still.
12. To sprinkle with or as with drops; to be-drop; to spot; to dot with spots of colour. arch.
c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. ci. (1869) 55 The scrippe thus dropped with this blood. c1430Stans Puer 57 in Babees Bk. (1868) 31 Droppe not þi brest with seew & oþer potage. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 12 The flancardes droped and gutted with red. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 406 Their wav'd coats dropt with Gold. c1820S. Rogers Italy (1839) 253 Fish Innumerable dropt with crimson and gold.
13. a. To let fall (like a drop or drops). Also fig.
c1315[see dropping vbl. n. 2]. a1400–50Alexander 1363 Þe kyng..Devynez deply on days, dropes mony willes. 1530Palsgr. 530/1, I droppe a wyle, as a crafty man dothe, jaffine..Let me alone with hym, I shall droppe a wyle to begyle him. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iv. 50 He would haue dropt his knife and fell asleepe. 1600― A.Y.L. iii. ii. 250 It may wel be cal'd Ioues tree, when it droppes forth fruite. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. vi. 24 His rosie Wreath was dropt not long before. 1830Tennyson Poems 149 Furl the sail! drop the oar! Leap ashore! 1837Whewell Hist. Induct. Sc. (1857) II. 43 Bodies..dropt from an elevated object.
b. to drop anchor: to let the anchor down, to cast anchor. See anchor n.1 6 c. Also absol.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 27 Tyding up with streame-Anchors, each sixe houres weighing and dropping. 1682Pepys Diary VI. 143 Dropped presently her anchor, and is..come safe in harbour. 1772Ann. Reg. 151/1 Soon after the Venus had dropped, the master of the ceremonies and the captain..were sent on board. 1890H. M. Stanley In darkest Africa I. 373 The steamer dropped anchor in the baylet of Nyamsassi.
c. To form by dropping from a shot-tower into a water-cistern.
1892W. W. Greener Breech-Loader 165 Lead shot is of two kinds: that which is moulded, as large buckshot, and that which is ‘dropped’, as the ordinary small shot.
d. to drop a brick, clanger: see brick n.1 5 c, clanger.
14. To let fall in birth; to give birth to (young); to lay (an egg). The usual word in reference to sheep. Also absol.
1662Pepys Diary 22 June, A Portugall lady..that hath dropped a child already since the Queen's coming. c1709Prior 2nd Hymn Callimachus 64 Ewes, that erst brought forth but single lambs, Now dropp'd their twofold burthens. 1749F. Smith Voy. Disc. II. 17 The Does passing to the South⁓ward to Fawn or drop their Young. 1816Keatinge Trav. (1817) II. App. 263 At the time the ewes drop. Ibid. II. 11 Mares drop their foals in January. 1834R. Mudie Feathered Tribes (1841) I. 46 The eggs are not..dropped till toward the end of May.
15. a. To let fall (words, a hint, etc.); to utter casually or by the way. Also with obj. clause.
1611Bible Amos vii. 16 Prophecie not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. 1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. Man. iv. i. 337 Both these Authors can somtimes drop leasings. 1706Hearne Collect. 23 Jan., Keile dropt..by chance, yt my Ld. Pembroke was inform'd. 1772H. Walpole Last Jrnls. (1859) I. 15 She never dropped a syllable which intimated her expecting death. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. x. 268 Quoting short Latin sayings, without dropping a hint as to their authorship.
b. To let (a letter or note) fall into the letter-box; hence, to send (a note, etc.) in a casual or informal way.
1769G. Whitefield Let. 5 Sept. in Wks. (1771) III. 392 Although I could not write to you whilst ashore, yet I must drop you a few lines now I am come aboard. 1777J. Q. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 234 I will drop a line as often as I can. 1889E. Dowson Let. 25 Mar. (1967) 57 If you can dine with me to-night somewhere drop me a wire to Bridge Dock before 5. 1945Bristol (New Hampshire) Enterprise 15 Feb. 3/4 Just drop a card to your county agent.
16. slang.
a. To give, lose, or part with (money). Also absol., to lose or give away money.
1676Wycherley Pl. Dealer iii. i, After a tedious fretting and wrangling, they drop away all their money on both sides. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., He dropp'd me a quid, he gave me a guinea. 1849Thackeray Pendennis xliii. (Farmer), We played hazard..And I dropped all the money I had from you in the morning. 1876Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly xxxi, Tommy is dropping pretty heavily [at écarté]. 1893Lady Burton Life Sir R. Burton I. 590 He was afraid he would drop several thousand pounds. 1916E. Wallace Clue Twisted Candle (1918) xvii. 194 ‘Did she drop?’ asked the other eagerly... ‘She hasn't got the money,’ he said, ‘but she's going to get it.’ 1931C. Massie Confessions of Vagabond vii. 79 Such men frequently ‘drop’ generously. 1939H. Hodge Cab, Sir? 222 To tip well is to ‘drop heavy’.
b. To pass (counterfeit money, cheques, etc.). slang.
1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xiv. 150 ‘Dropping’ the forgers' cheques. 1962Daily Tel. 23 June 9/1 Both lots of notes were printed on the Continent and are being ‘dropped’ in this country. 1968L. Black Outbreak xiii. 131 The known value of counterfeit fivers dropped is more than double that.
c. To swallow or take (a drug); esp. in phr. to drop acid: see acid n. 1 c. slang.
1966Alpert & Cohen LSD (inside cover) Drop a cap, swallow a capsule of LSD. 1967R. Bronsteen Hippies' Handbk. 13, I dropped my first acid in Paris. 1969Guardian 3 Dec. 9/1 She had dropped some LSD and had been tripping for an unknown number of hours. 1971‘E. McBain’ Hail, Hail, Gang's All Here ii. 170, I realized he was on an acid trip... I tried to find out what he'd dropped. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 183, I was using the Mandrax my dentist had given me, surreptitiously dropping one at ten thirty. 1984S. Bellow in Vanity Fair Feb. 110/2 Some kids are dropping acid, stealing cars. 1985S. Vanauken Under Mercy iv. 81 We obtained two six-hit caps and, recklessly, decided to drop the lot.
17. to drop a curtsy: to make a curtsy by lowering the body; so, to drop a nod.
1694, etc. [see curtsy n. 3]. 1880G. Meredith Trag. Com. (1881) 280 Tresten dropped a nod.
18. To bring or throw to the ground by a blow or shot; to fell with a blow, ‘floor’.
1726Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 199, I..dispatch'd two of 'em immediately, and I had made a shift to drop a third. 1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 243 The coachman dropped his man the first round. 1813J. Q. Adams Wks. (1856) X. 54 The wood-cutter..was puzzled to find a tree to drop. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales II. 151, I..planted my fist..under his jaw-bone, and dropped him at once. 1872H. M. Stanley How I found Livingstone (1890) 460, I..fired at it; but..did not succeed in dropping it.
19. To deposit from a ship or vehicle; to set down; also, to leave (a packet) at a person's house.
1796Nelson 4 Aug. in Nicolas Disp. II. 233 So soon as he has dropped the Convoy at Naples, he will proceed on his voyage. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxix. 296 [He] promised to drop us at the Shetland Islands. 1859Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 395, I will drop this at your door in passing for my drive. 1878S. Walpole Hist. Eng. II. 551 He would..stop his coach to drop a friend at his own door.
20. To omit (a letter or syllable) in pronunciation or writing.
1864Tennyson Sea Dreams 192 Dropping the too rough H in Hell and Heaven. 1871Roby Lat. Gram. i. viii. 49 The preposition prod always drops the d in composition except before a vowel. 1872O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf.-t. ii. (1885) 36 He does not drop his h's. 1883S. C. Hall Retrospect II. 191 The son of a celebrated clown, Gomery, who had dropped the aristocratic syllable Mont.
21. To let droop or hang down.
1842L. Hunt Palfrey i. 149, I blush, dear uncle; I drop mine eye-lids. 1894Blackmore Perlycross 51 The fair Tamar dropped her eyes, and hung her head.
22. a. To let move gently with the tide. b. to drop astern: to leave in the rear.
1805W. Hunter in Naval Chron. XIII. 24 Admiral H...ordered me to drop the Cutter up-abreast of Common Hard. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Drop astern, to..distancing a competitor. 1887Daily Tel. 10 Sept. 2/5 A couple of..catboats..were dropped astern at a great rate.
23. To lower (the voice) in pitch or loudness.
1860Mrs. Gaskell Right at Last, He dropped his voice.
24. Rugby Football.
a. To obtain (a goal) by a drop-kick.
1882Standard 20 Nov. 2/8 B. then dropped another goal.
b. intr. To make a drop-kick.
1905A. Conan Doyle Return of S. Holmes 310 He couldn't drop from the twenty-five line, and a three-quarter who can't either punt or drop isn't worth a place for pace alone.
25. To cease to keep up, or have to do with; to have done with; to leave off or let alone; to break off acquaintance or association with. drop it! (colloq. or slang) Have done! leave off!
1605Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 122 Certaine friends..Whose loues I may not drop. 1700T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 75 Let us drop that Matter. 1700Roderick in Ballard MSS. 23. 23 The..bill is likely to be dropt. 1711Addison Spect. No. 89 ⁋1 She will drop him in his old Age, if she can find her Account in another. 1767Wesley Jrnl. 20 Nov., I save at least eightpence by dropping tea in the afternoon. 1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xx. 250 Drop it, I say!.. Drop it—now and for ever. 1872Public Opinion 24 Feb. 241 He looked at me angrily, and briefly answered, ‘drop it’. 1873Black Pr. Thule xxiv. 403 So the subject was discreetly dropped. 1882Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 88 A custom which had once been universal, and had never been entirely dropped. 1889Froude Ch. of Dunboy xxvii, ‘Drop that..or..I will drive a bullet through the brain of you.’
III. With adverbs.
26. drop away. intr. To fall away drop by drop, or one by one.
1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 18 Then began they to drop away one by one, leaving the camp so disordered. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xix. (1840) 324 The men might drop away, and..betray all the rest. 1882Lecky Eng. in 18th C. IV. xv. 252 If the war continued much longer, America would almost certainly drop away.
27. drop in. intr.
a. See simple senses and in adv.b. To come in unintentionally; to come in or call unexpectedly or casually; to pay a casual visit.
c1600Shakes. Sonn. xc, Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow, And do not drop in for an after-loss. 1667Pepys Diary 28 Oct., Mr. Pierce, the surgeon, dropped in. 1754Richardson Grandison (1781) I. i. 2 He dropt in upon us as we were going to dinner. 1850W. Irving Goldsmith xiii. 166 Many dropped in uninvited. 1887Jessopp Arcady ii. 34 The younger neighbours drop in to have a talk.
c. To come in one by one or at intervals.
1697W. Dampier Voy. I. viii. 219 These..came dropping in one or two at a time, as they were able. 1879Froude Cæsar xxiv. 417 The other legions dropped in slowly.
d. To fall casually into one's hands or disposal, to become vacant.
1770Mrs. J. Harris in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 189 Till a larger patent place in the West Indies..drops in.
e. To meet casually with, to fall in with.
1802E. Parsons Mysterious Visit IV. 217 The party Lord Lymington accidentally dropped in with.
f. Surfing. (i) To obstruct another surfer by beginning one's surf ride in his path. (ii) To slide down the face of the wave immediately after take-off.
1965P. L. Dixon Compl. Bk. Surfing (1966) 195 Drop in, a big surf term meaning to continue the slide down the face of the wave to gain speed. 1967Surfabout IV. iii. 27/1 Most of you are still beginners, so before taking-off on a wave, check carefully to see that no one has picked up a wave farther along, and is coming straight for you. This is usually termed ‘dropping in’ and you won't find yourself particularly popular if you are caught doing this. 1968Surfer Mag. Jan. 52/1 Martinson dropped in with one stroke. 1968W. Warwick Surfriding in N.Z. 17/2 Don't drop in on other surfers on a wave. 1971Studies in English (Univ. Cape Town) Feb. 26 It is a mark of a gremlin or gremmy to drop in (i.e., to take off on the outside of someone who has already started to take off).
28. drop off. intr.
a. See simple senses and off adv.b. To withdraw or retire one by one, or by degrees.
1709Steele Tatler No. 149 ⁋2, I..found the [others]..drop off designedly to leave me alone with the eldest Daughter. 1824Byron Juan xvi. viii, The banqueteers had dropp'd off one by one. 1890Century Mag. Nov. 112/1 The membership of the Society began dropping off.
c. To fall asleep.
1820Baroness Bunsen in Hare Life (1879) I. v. 159 He put his arms round his own mother's neck..and dropped off. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. xiii, Whenever they saw me dropping off, [they] woke me up.
d. To die; = 5 b.
1699J. Jackson in Pepys' Diary VI. 213 He is..extremely ill, and could not do a greater service to strangers than to drop off at this juncture. 1771Foote Maid of B. iii. Wks. 1799 II. 230 He dropped off in six months. 1884G. Allen Philistia II. 56 He..would probably drop off quietly with suppressed gout.
e. To become less frequent or assiduous in.
1827Examiner 684/1 The defendant began to drop off in his visits.
29. drop out.
a. intr. (See simple senses and out adv.)
b. To withdraw or disappear from one's (or its) place in a series, group, etc.; to disappear from public notice; spec. to ‘opt out’ from society.
1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 100 The shell opens, and the nut drops out. 1865J. D. Whitney Rep. Geol. Survey Calif.: Geology I. x. 422 If the bottom of the Yosemite did ‘drop out’..it was not all done in one piece. 1883‘Mark Twain’ Life on Miss. li. 507, I asked him to hold my musket while I dropped out and got a drink. 1932A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 69 One of the runners soon dropped out. 1933P. Godfrey Back-Stage iii. 38 Sometimes a player drops out through illness or accident. 1952G. W. Brace Spire (1953) xx. 195 Hadn't you better drop out and make a new start in the autumn? 1962Sunday Times 21 Jan. 24/6 They say to me: Of course you remember So-and-So; and of course I say I do; but I really don't, it's somebody who's dropped right out. 1967Listener 31 Aug. 273/3 Drop out of school, because schools' education today is the worst narcotic drug of all. Don't politic, don't vote... Drop out—tune in with natural things. 1970Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 17 Apr. 9/4 He had started a university course in San Francisco but dropped out for reasons not yet known.
c. Rugby Football. To make a drop-kick (see drop-out 1).
1917A. Waugh Loom of Youth ii. ii. 127 In a state of feverish panic Livingstone dropped out.
d. Photogr. To eliminate (something) from a negative, plate, etc.; spec. to eliminate the highlight dots from (part of a half-tone negative or plate). Also absol. or intr. Cf. drop-out 3.
1948[see drop-out 3]. 1951F. Preucil in Progress in Photogr. I. xi. 390 Special copy preparation to drop out highlights is used. 1967Karch & Buber Offset Processes iv. 125 Modification is possible to..drop-out shadows in Benday screens.
30. drop short. intr.
a. To fall short; usually with of, to fail to reach or obtain. (In quot. a 1726, to drop simply, in same sense.)
1688Bunyan Heavenly Footm. (1886) 143 Many eminent professors drop short of a welcome from God into this pleasant place. a1726Collier (J.), Often it drops or overshoots by the disproportions of distance or application. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 152 A strake which drops short of the stem.
b. colloq. or slang. To die.
1826Sporting Mag. XXII. 327 One of these days he must drop short.
Add:[I.] [4.] [a.] Also in colloq. phr. ready (or fit) to drop: tired out, physically exhausted.
1892C. M. Yonge That Stick I. ii. 16 Of all the sluts I've ever been plagued with, she's the very worst, and so I tell her till I'm ready to drop. 1909Webster 822/3 He walked until he was fit to drop. 1919G. B. Shaw Great Catherine ii. 136, I wear a crown until my neck aches: I stand looking majestic until I am ready to drop. 1969‘M. Fallon’ Fine Night for Dying v. 56 She looked tired, ready to drop at any moment. 1987N.Y. Times 20 Sept. i. 48/6 At the end of the year, I was ready to drop, but he does it year in and year out.
[II.] [13.] e. Sport. To lose (a contest, game, etc.), esp. unexpectedly. orig. U.S.
1961St. Louis Post-Dispatch 2 May 4c/8 New York's '51 Giants..dropped 11 of their first 13 [games]. 1970R. Coover Universal Baseball Assoc. vii. 204 Play the game, play it out. So they did and dropped the last nine games in a row. 1978Washington Post 28 Jan. f7/2 Mayer immediately dropped four games in a row, double-faulting to lose his serve to 2–3. 1986Daily Tel. 1 July 29/5 Helena Sukova..has not dropped a set in her four matches. 1987Washington Post 10 Oct. d7/3 Only once, in 1985, have the Capitals been above the .500 mark..after 20 games. They dropped their first three that year.
f. To lower or take down (one's trousers), esp. publicly.
a1967J. Orton What Butler Saw (1969) i. 41 He takes it off, kicks away his shoes and drops his trousers. 1977Washington Post 5 June d4/1 The unknown qualifier dropped his pants and began screaming madly at the course, the qualifying school and the game of golf. 1986City Limits 12 June 15/2 I'd like to drop my trousers to the Queen.
[25.] b. euphem. To dismiss (a worker); also, to expel (a student). U.S.
1845Lowell (Mass.) Offering V. 239 They might ‘drop the operative’. 1865N.Y. Herald 29 June 5/5 Two men who have made most distinguished reputations in this war, have each had sons ‘dropped’ here. [sc. West Point]. 1894Harper's Mag. Apr. 770/1 He must maintain a certain standard of scholarship or he will be dropped. 1938N.Y. Times 7 Aug. v. 1 (heading) Cochrane dropped as Tigers' pilot; Baker is appointed new manager. 1940Univ. Washington Catal. 1940–1941 66 The college concerned is to decide when a student on probation, because of continued low scholarship, shall be dropped from the college. 1965Bull. Southern Methodist Univ. School of Humanities 39 A student who fails to attain a 1.0 grade-point average in any semester is dropped. 1982N.Y. Times 14 Feb. i. 23/5 The proposed reductions in the 1983 budget were expected to force the Soil Conservation Service to drop 900 employees from its work force.
c. Sport. To discard (a player) from a team.
1949F. A. Lewis Cleveland Indians i. 5 When the switch to a pro team was made in the ensuing winter, most of the amateur team was dropped. 1951Sport 27 Jan.–2 Feb. 3/1 Streten is playing too well to be dropped! 1976Economist 25 Dec. 27/3 It could also..bring new demands from players: they might sue coaches for dropping them from the team, or otherwise use their new legal muscle in court. 1981G. Boycott In Fast Lane i. 8 Then he was dropped by England after a couple of Test matches at home, and I feel he was discarded too soon. 1990Thames Valley Now Feb. 23/1 Botham was not dropped, merely relieved of the captaincy.
[c indigo][28.] f.[/c] trans. To set down (a passenger). Cf. sense 19 above.
1961L. Biddle Sam Bentley's Island vii. 73 ‘We'll drop Mr. Rawlings off in Ardmore’, Julia said. 1978S. Sheldon Bloodline xii. 156 When Rhys dropped Elizabeth off at school, she said, ‘I don't know how to thank you.’ 1983J. M. Coetzee Life & Times Michael K i. 130 They were dropped off at various farms in the district according to a roster the driver kept. 1986M. Forster Private Papers 151 She allowed him to drop her off at our respective residences.
▸ trans. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.). With allusion to the (former) cost of a call made from a public telephone.to drop a dime and variants: to inform on or betray a person, to act as an informer; to report illegal activity, esp. to the police. Freq. with on.
1966N.Y. Post 24 Aug. 30/1 To inform on someone is called ‘dropping the dime’. 1983Washington Post 14 Jan. c5/2 You mean all these people have dropped the dime on you and you're not going to make a statement on them? 1988N. Stephenson Zodiac iii. 24 As soon as we're done I'm going to drop a dime on one of our earnest young ecolawyers and see if we can sue the crap out of him. 1997D. Simon & E. Burns Corner 104 He could see the dusty bitch dropping dime over a single vial.
▸ trans. slang (orig. U.S.). a. To sing or perform (rap lyrics or rap music).
1988Los Angeles Times 10 Oct. vi. 5/4 The Fresh Prince gave himself and Jazzy Jeff a last-gasp pep talk before performing their current hit... ‘If we drop this record (i.e., play this song) and the crowd don't go wild, I think we pretty much had it, pally wally.’ 1989‘Big Daddy Kane’ Another Victory (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 16 They don't drop rhymes like these. 1996‘Freak Nasty’ Da' Dip (song) in Hip-hop & Rap (2003) 68 Droppin' bass like a bad habit. 2002Billboard 4 May 21/4 Cee-Lo proves that despite his many musical influences he can still drop lyrical jewels on a good old-fashioned breakbeat.
b. to drop science: to impart knowledge or wisdom, freq. about social issues, esp. through the medium of rap or hip-hop music.
1988‘Beastie Boys’ Sounds of Science (transcription of song) in www.lyricsfreak.com (O.E.D. Archive) Now here we go dropping science..Expanding the horizons. 1990‘Paris’ Break Grip of Shame (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 245 Paris is my name, I don't sleep I drop science and keep the peace. 1994Straight No Chaser Summer 6 The Silent Poets—fresh from recording with Menelik in Paris—slipped into South London to drop science with the Mad Professor. 1999Village Voice Lit. Suppl. Apr.–May 84/1 Stylish, confident, and capable of dropping science on everything from the roots of rap to the vagaries of child-support legislation.
c. To release (a musical recording, etc.). Also intr.: (of a musical recording, etc.) to be released.
1992Rap Masters Jan. 58 In 1979..the Sugarhill Gang dropped their first rap album. 1993B. Cross It's not about Salary 246 They dropped the video. 2003Us Weekly 7–14 July 36 Due out August 19 (the same day runner-up Clay Aiken's record is expected to drop), Studdard's CD will include ‘R&B, pop, club tunes, and a gospel song’.
d. Esp. of a disc jockey: to play (recorded music), typically on a turntable.
1992Times 28 Nov. (Sat. Review) 35/1 His portable tape recorder ‘drops’ his favourite tunes. 1995Mixmag May 34/2 Suddenly the DJ drops ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’ by Dusty Springfield. 2003N.Y. Times (National ed.) 26 Oct. ii. 25/2 If you heard a D.J. drop Nancy Sinatra's version of the Sonny and Cher corpse ‘Bang-Bang’..you'd run over and beg for the D.J.'s card. |