DROP, n. [G.]

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.

1. To distill; to fall in small portions, globules or drops, as a liquid. Water drops from the clouds or from the eaves.
2. To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops. The heavens dropped at the presence of God. – Ps. lxviii.
3. To fall; to descend suddenly or abruptly.
4. To fall spontaneously; as, ripe fruit drops from a tree.
5. To die, or to die suddenly. We see one friend after another dropping round us. They drop into the grave.
6. To come to an end; to cease; to be neglected and come to nothing; as, the affair dropped.
7. To come unexpectedly; with in or into; as, my old friend dropped in, a moment.
8. To fall short of a mark. [Not usual.]. Often it drops or overshoots. – Collier.
9. To fall lower; as, the point of the spear dropped a little.
10. To be deep in extent. Her main top-sail drops seventeen yards. – Mar. Dict. To drop astern, in seamen's language, is to pass or move toward the stern; to move back; or to slacken the velocity of a vessel to let another beyond her. To drop down, in seamen's language, is to sail, row, or move down a river, or toward the sea.

1. To pour or let fall in small portions or globules, as a fluid; to distill. The heavens shall drop down dew. – Deut. xxxiii.
2. To let fall as any substance; as, to drop the anchor; to drop a stone.
3. To let go; to dismiss; to lay aside; to quit; to leave; to permit to subside; as, to drop an affair; to drop a controversy; to drop a pursuit.
4. To utter slightly, briefly or casually; as, to drop a word in favor of a friend.
5. To insert indirectly, incidentally, or by way of digression; as, to drop a word of instruction in a letter.
6. To lay aside; to dismiss from possession; as, to drop these frail bodies.
7. To leave; as, to drop a letter at the post-office.
8. To set down and leave; as, the coach dropped a passenger at the inn.
9. To quit; to suffer to cease; as, to drop an acquaintance.
10. To let go; to dismiss from association; as, to drop a companion.
11. To suffer to end or come to nothing; as, to drop a fashion.
12. To bedrop; to speckle; to variegate, as if by sprinkling with drops; as, a coat dropped with gold. – Milton.
13. To lower; as, to drop the muzzle of a gun.

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 water.
   
   

   With minute drops from off the eaves. Milton.

   As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
   That visit my sad heart. Shak.

   That drop of peace divine. Keble.

2. 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.

3. To fall in drops.
   
   

   The kindly dew drops from the higher tree,
   And wets the little plants that lowly dwell. Spenser.

4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.

7. Same as Gutta.
   
   
   (b)
8. 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.

9. To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops.
   
   

   The heavens . . . dropped at the presence of God. Ps. lxviii. 8.

10. Whatever is arranged to drop, hang, or fall from an elevated position; also, a contrivance for lowering something
    
    
    ; as: (a)
11. 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.
12. To fall dead, or to fall in death.
    
    

    Nothing, 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.

13. Any medicine the dose of which is measured by drops; as, lavender drops.
14. To lower, as a curtain, or the muzzle of a gun, etc.
15. To come to an end; to cease; to pass out of mind; as, the affair dropped.
    
    
    Pope.
16. The depth of a square sail; -- generally applied to the courses only.
    
    
    Ham. Nav. Encyc.
17. To send, as a letter; as, please drop me a line, a letter, word.
18. To come unexpectedly; -- with in or into; as, my old friend dropped in a moment.
    
    
    Steele.

    Takes care to drop in when he thinks you are just seated. Spectator.

19. Act of dropping; sudden fall or descent.
    
    

    Ague drop, Black drop. See under Ague, Black. -- 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. See Drop, n., 4. (d). -- 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, a drop curtain on which a scene is painted. See Drop, n., 4. (d). -- Drop seed. (Bot.) See the List under Glass. -- Drop serene. (Med.) See Amaurosis.

20. To give birth to; as, to drop a lamb.
21. To fall or be depressed; to lower; as, the point of the spear dropped a little.
22. 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.

23. To fall short of a mark.
    
    
    [R.]

    Often it drops or overshoots by the disproportion of distance. Collier.

24. To be deep in extent; to descend perpendicularly; as, her main topsail drops seventeen yards.
    
    

    To 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.]