ear-dropn.
/ˈɪədrɒp/, U.S. /ˈɪ(ə)rˌdrɑp/ 1. An earring with a pendant jewel or ornament; a drop earring.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > jewellery worn on the ear > [noun]
earringOE
earlet1610
ear-bob1648
top1703
rose drop1707
ear-drop1720
snap1748
ear hoop1779
ear stud1817
ear-plug1820
girandole1825
stud1831
stud earring1873
ear-piercing1896
sleeper1896
pierced earring1914
earclip1940
keeper1960
1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 211 A few Diamonds in the Ear-drops.
1799 tr. Comtesse de Genlis Young Exiles I. xxi. 149 She immediately went to Zurich, to sell her watch, and her gold cross and ear-drops.
1837 Mag. Pop. Sci. 3 455 Using them [sc. pearls] as ear-drops and rings.
1861 Daily Rev. (Edinb.) 16 Dec. 4/5 (advt.) Rings, Eardrops, Albert and Guard Chains.
1936 L. C. Douglas White Banners ix. 201 While finding the jabot, she had come upon a pair of long imitation-jade eardrops.
1995 V. Fernando Once on Mountainside 9 Chains and bracelets, dangling ear drops.
2. Frequently in plural. Any of various plants with pendant flowers; spec. (a) (more fully †ladies' ear-drop, lady's ear-drop) a fuchsia, esp. Fuchsia magellanica (cf. earring n. 2); (b) a dicentra, esp. (in full golden ear-drop) Dicentra (or Ehrendorferia) chrysantha of California, which has yellow flowers.
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1811 D. Hosack Hortus Elginensis (ed. 2) 24/2 Fushia or Ear drop.
1829 A. H. Lincoln Familiar Lect. Bot. xxv. 145 The Ladies'-ear-drop..has a funnel-form calyx, of a brilliant red colour.
1861 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. (rev. ed.) 225 Dicentra, Borkh. Ear-drop.
1898 A. M. Davidson Calif. Plants Index Golden Ear-Drop.
1911 Country Life Amer. 15 Dec. 22/1 The fuchsia, or lady's ear-drop, is one of the plants which was much grown in the window garden twenty or twenty-five years ago.
1980 M. G. Schmidt Growing Calif. Native Plants 103 The seed of Golden Ear-Drops resists germination.
2001 J. McVicar Seeds 180/1 Fuchsia magellanica (Lady's ear drops) Zones 6–9.
3. In plural. Medicated liquid administered into the ear canal as drops. Cf. drop n. 4.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > drops > [noun]
drops1726
ear-drops1839
eye drop1938–9
nose drops1938
1839 Lancet 13 Apr. 113 As long as the public is as unwise as it now is, it is to be feared that there will be found..Cronins, Curtises, and hosts of others, with ear drops; Blairs, with gout drops; Holloways, with double universal ointments [etc.].
1901 Med. News 6 Apr. 547/2 The palliative use of so-called ear drops, which at the best are totally inert, can only be condemned absolutely.
1971 Life 18 June 56 (advt.) Auro ear drops quickly loosen and dissolve ear wax.
2001 N. Jones Rough Guide Trav. Health ii. 205 The best initial treatment is regular application of antibiotic eardrops, usually combined with a mild steroid to reduce inflammation.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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