(one) can hear a pin drop

(one) can hear a pin drop

One can hear or perceive the tiniest noise because some place is completely quiet and still. The cathedral is incredible. You can hear a pin drop in there because no one is allowed to make a sound once they are inside. She said she wants it to be so quiet that she can hear a pin drop while she works. Where are the kids? If I can hear a pin drop all of a sudden, the kids are definitely getting into things they shouldn't.

See also: can, drop, hear, pin

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

hear a pin drop, can

Be able to hear even the smallest noise because of the quiet, as in When he came onstage you could have heard a pin drop. This hyperbolic expression dates from the early 1800s.

See also: can, hear, pin

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.