drip
1 Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
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an act of dripping.
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liquid that drips.
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the sound made by falling drops.
the irritating drip of a faucet.
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Slang. an unattractive, boring, or colorless person.
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(in house painting) the accumulation of solidified drops of paint at the bottom of a painted surface.
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Architecture, Building Trades. any device, as a molding, for shedding rainwater to keep it from running down a wall, falling onto the sill of an opening, etc.
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a pipe for draining off condensed steam from a radiator, heat exchanger, etc.
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Medicine/Medical. intravenous drip.
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Slang. maudlin sentimentality.
abbreviation
verb
noun
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the formation and falling of drops of liquid
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the sound made by falling drops
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architect a projection at the front lower edge of a sill or cornice designed to throw water clear of the wall below
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informal an inane, insipid person
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med
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the usually intravenous drop-by-drop administration of a therapeutic solution, as of salt or sugar
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the solution administered
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the equipment used to administer a solution in this way
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Other Word Forms
- nondrip adjective
Etymology
Origin of drip1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English dryppe, Old English dryppan; drop
Origin of DRIP2
First recorded in 1975–80
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A reply was already flashing on my laptop, and I dripped water all over the keyboard in my hurry to read it.
From Literature
Other locations will soon have the drips available.
The persistent plunk, plunk, plunk of icicles dripping into an aluminum gutter — a sound that is less birdsong than plumbing.
From Salon
The prediction markets are under growing scrutiny as a steady drip of questionable trades make headlines.
From Barron's
Contributing to the volatility of the stock is a constant drip of share sales from CoreWeave’s most important early investor, a fund called Magnetar.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
