Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Drop
Drop
(drŏp)
, Noun.
1.
The quantity of fluid which falls in one small spherical mass; a liquid globule; a minim; hence, also, the smallest easily measured portion of a fluid; a small quantity;
as, a
. drop
of waterWith minute
drops
from off the eaves. Milton.
As dear to me as are the ruddy
That visit my sad heart.
drops
That visit my sad heart.
Shakespeare
That
drop
of peace divine. Keble.
2.
That which resembles, or that which hangs like, a liquid drop; as a hanging diamond ornament, an earring, a glass pendant on a chandelier, a sugarplum (sometimes medicated), or a kind of shot or slug.
4.
Whatever is arranged to drop, hang, or fall from an elevated position; also, a contrivance for lowering something
; as: (a)
A door or platform opening downward; a trap door; that part of the gallows on which a culprit stands when he is to be hanged; hence, the gallows itself.
(b)
A machine for lowering heavy weights, as packages, coal wagons, etc., to a ship’s deck.
(c)
A contrivance for temporarily lowering a gas jet.
(d)
A curtain which drops or falls in front of the stage of a theater, etc.
(e)
A drop press or drop hammer.
(f)
(Mach.)
The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.
5.
pl.
Any medicine the dose of which is measured by drops;
as, lavender
. drops
6.
(Naut.)
The depth of a square sail; – generally applied to the courses only.
Ham. Nav. Encyc.
7.
Act of dropping; sudden fall or descent.
Ague drop
, Black drop
Drop by drop
, in small successive quantities; in repeated portions.
“Made to taste drop by drop more than the bitterness of death.” Burke.
– Drop curtain
. – Drop forging
. (Mech.)
(a)
A forging made in dies by a drop hammer.
(b)
The process of making drop forgings.
– Drop hammer
(Mech.)
, a hammer for forging, striking up metal, etc., the weight being raised by a strap or similar device, and then released to drop on the metal resting on an anvil or die.
– Drop kick
(Football)
, a kick given to the ball as it rebounds after having been dropped from the hands.
– Drop lake
, a pigment obtained from Brazil wood.
Mollett.
– Drop letter
, a letter to be delivered from the same office where posted.
– Drop press
(Mech.)
, a drop hammer; sometimes, a dead-stroke hammer; – also called drop.
– Drop scene
, – Drop seed
. (Bot.)
See the List under
– Glass
. Drop serene
. (Med.)
See
Amaurosis
.Drop
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dropped
or Dropt
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Dropping
.] 1.
To pour or let fall in drops; to pour in small globules; to distill.
“The trees drop balsam.” Creech.
The recording angel, as he wrote it down,
dropped
a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever. Sterne.
2.
To cause to fall in one portion, or by one motion, like a drop; to let fall;
as, to
drop
a line in fishing; to drop
a courtesy.3.
To let go; to dismiss; to set aside; to have done with; to discontinue; to forsake; to give up; to omit.
They suddenly
drop't
the pursuit. S. Sharp.
That astonishing ease with which fine ladies
drop
you and pick you up again. Thackeray.
The connection had been
dropped
many years. Sir W. Scott.
Dropping
the too rough H in Hell and Heaven. Tennyson.
4.
To bestow or communicate by a suggestion; to let fall in an indirect, cautious, or gentle manner;
as, to
drop
hint, a word of counsel, etc.5.
To lower, as a curtain, or the muzzle of a gun, etc.
6.
To send, as a letter;
as, please
. drop
me a line, a letter, word7.
To give birth to;
as, to
. drop
a lamb8.
To cover with drops; to variegate; to bedrop.
Show to the sun their waved coats
dropped
with gold. Milton.
To drop a vessel
(Naut.)
, to leave it astern in a race or a chase; to outsail it.
Drop
,Verb.
I.
1.
To fall in drops.
The kindly dew
And wets the little plants that lowly dwell.
drops
from the higher tree,And wets the little plants that lowly dwell.
Spenser.
2.
To fall, in general, literally or figuratively;
as, ripe fruit
drops
from a tree; wise words drop
from the lips.Mutilations of which the meaning has
dropped
out of memory. H. Spencer.
When the sound of
dropping
nuts is heard. Bryant.
3.
To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops.
The heavens . . .
dropped
at the presence of God. Ps. lxviii. 8.
4.
To fall dead, or to fall in death;
as,
. dropping
like fliesNothing, says Seneca, so soon reconciles us to the thoughts of our own death, as the prospect of one friend after another
dropping
round us. Digby.
5.
To come to an end; to cease; to pass out of mind;
as, the affair
. dropped
Pope.
6.
To come unexpectedly; – with in or into;
as, my old friend
. dropped
in a momentSteele.
Takes care to
drop
in when he thinks you are just seated. Spectator.
7.
To fall or be depressed; to lower;
as, the point of the spear
. dropped
a little8.
To fall short of a mark.
[R.]
Often it
drops
or overshoots by the disproportion of distance. Collier.
9.
To be deep in extent; to descend perpendicularly;
as, her main topsail
. drops
seventeen yardsTo drop astern
(Naut.)
, to go astern of another vessel; to be left behind; to slacken the speed of a vessel so as to fall behind and to let another pass a head.
– To drop down
(Naut.)
, to sail, row, or move down a river, or toward the sea.
– To drop off
, to fall asleep gently; also, to die.
[Colloq.]
Webster 1828 Edition
Drop
DROP
,Noun.
1.
A small portion of any fluid in a spherical form, which falls at once from any body, or a globule of any fluid which is pendent, as if about to fall; a small portion of water falling in rain; as a drop of water; a drop of blood; a drop of laudanum.2.
A diamond hanging from the ear; an earring; something hanging in the form of a drop.3.
A very small quantity of liquor; as, he had not drank a drop.4.
The part of a gallows which sustains the criminal before he is executed, and which is suddenly dropped.