drop out
1. verb To fall or spill out of something. I didn't realize that I hadn't fully zipped my backpack until my books started dropping out of it. Because I didn't realize I had the bag upside down, all the candies dropped out onto the floor. If your suitcase isn't securely closed, your unmentionables are liable to drop out in the middle of the airport.
2. verb To break and plunge suddenly. This usage typically refers to the bottom of something. The bottom dropped out of the paper bag once it got wet. If the bottom drops out of the stock market, we could have another Great Depression ahead of us. Did you hear about that awful accident? Ten people were injured when the deck they were standing on suddenly dropped out from under them.
3. verb To let someone or something fall or proceed out of something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "drop" and "out." Drop the troops out of the plane once you're safely over the compound. Of course the boys got into mischief and started dropping each other's things out the window. Whoa, you can't just drop the dog out of his carrier like that! Be careful—the trip to the vet was probably traumatizing enough!
4. verb To eliminate or exclude something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "drop" and "out." Something is wrong with the sound system because it's dropping out every third word. With the way that actor curses, the network will have to drop every other word out of his speech! If I hit a bump while I'm talking on the phone in my car, my phone drops out whole sentences.
5. verb To not be amplified, broadcast, or delivered to a receiver, typically due to some kind of connection problem. Something is wrong with the sound system because every third word is dropping out. I have to call my phone company because my calls keep dropping out. Back when we had dial-up, the connection would drop out when we got an incoming call.
6. verb To abandon society and conventional values, as due to disillusionment with them. After surviving a serious illness, my sister dropped out and bought a house in the country instead of going back to her corporate job. Sure, I was making a lot of money as a Wall Street trader, but I was totally unfulfilled. That's why I dropped out. I never expected that renowned surgeon to drop out all of a sudden, but I hear he couldn't work those absurd hours anymore.
7. verb To leave an activity or program without finishing it. I'm going back to school because I always regretted dropping out of college. A: "It took me two years to finish my thesis. Two years!" B: "Geez, no wonder you almost dropped out of grad school." You can't just drop out now, your team's depending on you!
8. noun One who has left school before graduation. In this usage, the phrase is often written as one word or hyphenated. I'm going back to school because I always regretted being a college dropout. It's not like I wanted to be a high school dropout, but I got pregnant, and my priorities completely shifted. You're so close to getting your degree. Don't become a dropout now!
dropout factory
A high school that has an unusually high number of students who leave school (drop out) before graduating. Primarily heard in US. With so little funding going to public education these days, it's no wonder that so many schools are becoming dropout factories. I'm impressed you got your diploma from that school—I'd heard it had turned into a real dropout factory. Because our local school is a dropout factory, my parents sent me to a prep school several towns over.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
drop out
(of something) 1. . Lit. to fall out of something. One by one, the skydivers dropped out of the plane. The marshmallows dropped out of the bag.
2. Lit. or Fig. [for the bottom of something] to break loose and drop. The bottom dropped out of the box, spilling everything everywhere. The bottom dropped out of the stock market, and we lost a lot of money.
3. Fig. [for someone] to resign from or cease being a member of something; [for someone] to leave school. Sally dropped out of school for some unknown reason. But why did she drop out?
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
drop out
v.1. To fall out of something: My card must have dropped out of the bag at some point.
2. To make or let something or someone fall out of something: I dropped the stones out of the window.
3. To withdraw from participation in something, as a game, club, or school: The committee is trying to determine why so many students were dropping out. I dropped out of algebra because it was too hard. I dropped history out of my schedule this term.
4. To withdraw from established society, especially due to disillusionment with conventional values: My cousin dropped out and moved to the tropics.
5. To omit something: This computer drops out the semicolons. The old stereo drops the bass out.
6. To be omitted: When words are contracted, some sounds or letters drop out.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.