drop a bombshell
drop a bombshell
To reveal something that is very surprising or unexpected. Whoa, you can't just drop a bombshell like that and leave—I need details about your new boyfriend! When we got a tip that the newspaper was about to drop a bombshell about our candidate, we all wondered what information they could possibly have.
drop a bombshell
Make an unexpected or shattering announcement. For example, Bill dropped a bombshell when he said he was quitting. This expression, which alludes to the destruction caused by a falling bomb, dates from World War I.
drop a bombshell
COMMON If someone drops a bombshell, they suddenly announce a piece of bad news. Next day the bombshell was dropped on the front pages of the newspapers: the company had gone into voluntary liquidation. My ex-wife is on the phone and she drops a bombshell. Sue, our daughter, is leaving the country.
drop a ˈbombshell
announce something which is unexpected and usually unpleasant: It was then that he dropped the bombshell — he wasn’t planning to come with us.drop a bombshell
verbSee drop a brick
drop a bombshell, to
To announce sensational news. This metaphor dates from World War I and likens the devastation caused by falling bombs to the shock of suddenly receiving unexpected tidings. “The letters do not drop any historical bombshells,” wrote a Manchester Guardian reviewer in 1928. See also bolt from the blue.
See also: drop