drop (someone or something) on (someone or something)
1. To let someone or something fall from one's grasp onto someone or something else. If you drop the cat on the floor, don't be surprised if she comes back and nips you. The box was so unwieldy that I dropped it on my foot. Don't tell Mom, but I was carrying so many things earlier that I accidentally dropped a textbook on her prized tulips.
2. To deliver something unpleasant to someone, often bad news. I'm sorry to drop all of that on you, but I had to tell someone about my mom's illness. Management dropped the entire project on me after Lydia resigned. I hate to drop this on you at the last minute, but we need three dozen cupcakes by tomorrow.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
drop someone or something on someone or something
to release something so it falls on someone or something. Poor Alice dropped an iron on her toe. I accidentally dropped the baby on the floor.
drop something on someone
1. . Lit. to let something fall on someone. The bricklayer dropped some mortar on me.
2. Fig. to give someone some bad news. (As if dropping a burden on someone.) Sally dropped some really bad news on Walter. I'm sorry I had to drop it on you like that.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.