drop

The word "drop" has many different meanings.

As a noun, it’s a small amount of liquid that falls from somewhere:

• I just felt a drop of rain.
• Drops of blood on the floor indicate someone is bleeding.
• Cindy squeezed a few drops of Visine on her eyes because they were bothering her.
• Ron saw a few drops of oil on his driveway, so he took his car to a mechanic to see if there was a problem.
• Large teardrops streamed down the little girl’s face after she fell off of her bike.

As a verb, "drop" is similar to yesterday’s word of the day, "drip."

• Water is dropping from the ceiling.
• Ten inches of snow dropped across the northeastern part of the United States yesterday.

Of course, you can also use "drop" when something is released from one’s hands or from an object:

• When she dropped the plate, it broke.
• A can of coke dropped from the vending machine.
• Try not to drop those boxes.

He helped her pick up some paper that she dropped.

The word "drop" can also mean to stop something or quit:

• She’s dropping her English class.
• Bob dropped half of his courses last semester because he was sick.
• It’s hard to get a job if you drop out of high school.

You can also use "drop" with "by" to describe a short visit:

• What time are you going to drop by?
• Taylor dropped by her teacher’s classroom after school to discuss her grades.

Click here to go to the Word of the Day page.

This page was first published on January 6, 2012.