n. [ OE. drope, AS. dropa; akin to OS. dropo, D. drop, OHG. tropo, G. tropfen, Icel. dropi, Sw. droppe; and Fr. AS. dreópan to drip, drop; akin to OS. driopan, D. druipen, OHG. triofan, G. triefen, Icel. drjūpa. Cf. Drip, Droop. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

With minute drops from off the eaves. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

That drop of peace divine. Keble. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Arch.) (a) Same as Gutta. (b) Any small pendent ornament. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. Any medicine the dose of which is measured by drops; as, lavender drops. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Naut.) The depth of a square sail; -- generally applied to the courses only. Ham. Nav. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Act of dropping; sudden fall or descent. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To fall in drops. [ 1913 Webster ]

The kindly dew drops from the higher tree,
And wets the little plants that lowly dwell. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fall, in general, literally or figuratively; as, ripe fruit drops from a tree; wise words drop from the lips. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mutilations of which the meaning has dropped out of memory. H. Spencer. [ 1913 Webster ]

When the sound of dropping nuts is heard. Bryant. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops. [ 1913 Webster ]

The heavens . . . dropped at the presence of God. Ps. lxviii. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To fall dead, or to fall in death; as, dropping like flies. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To come to an end; to cease; to pass out of mind; as, the affair dropped. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To come unexpectedly; -- with in or into; as, my old friend dropped in a moment. Steele. [ 1913 Webster ]

Takes care to drop in when he thinks you are just seated. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To fall or be depressed; to lower; as, the point of the spear dropped a little. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To fall short of a mark. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Often it drops or overshoots by the disproportion of distance. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To be deep in extent; to descend perpendicularly; as, her main topsail drops seventeen yards. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dropped r Dropt; p. pr. & vb. n. Dropping. ] [ OE. droppen, AS. dropan, v. i. See Drop, n. ] 1. To pour or let fall in drops; to pour in small globules; to distill. “The trees drop balsam.” Creech. [ 1913 Webster ]

The recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever. Sterne. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To let go; to dismiss; to set aside; to have done with; to discontinue; to forsake; to give up; to omit. [ 1913 Webster ]

They suddenly drop't the pursuit. S. Sharp. [ 1913 Webster ]

That astonishing ease with which fine ladies drop you and pick you up again. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

The connection had been dropped many years. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dropping the too rough H in Hell and Heaven. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To lower, as a curtain, or the muzzle of a gun, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To send, as a letter; as, please drop me a line, a letter, word. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To give birth to; as, to drop a lamb. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To cover with drops; to variegate; to bedrop. [ 1913 Webster ]

Show to the sun their waved coats dropped with gold. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

To drop a vessel (Naut.), to leave it astern in a race or a chase; to outsail it. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a sheet of material used to cover objects or surfaces while painting a ceiling or wall of a house, so as to protect objects from being marred by drops of paint splashed inadvertantly in the painting process. Originally such drop cloths were made of cloth, but more recently paper or plastic have also commonly been used. [ PJC ]

v. t. to forge with a drop forge; -- of metals. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a device for making large forgings, in which a heavy hammer drops onto the metalwork to be forged, pressing it into a form or anvil underneath, or between dies.
Syn. -- drop hammer, drop press. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. an act of kicking a football (as for a field goal) in which the football is dropped and kicked as it touches the ground. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a football kicker who drops the ball and kicks it just as it reaches the ground. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A little drop; a tear. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An electric or gas light suspended from the ceiling by a flexible cord or tube, allowing artificial light to be brought down from a chandelier nearer to a table or desk; a pendant; also, an electric light bulb in a small holder, which can be held in the hand or hung from a hook, and attached to a long electric cord, allowing light to be brought close to work in dark areas of a room.