Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Drop \Drop\, n. [OE. drope, AS. dropa; akin to OS. dropo, D.
   drop, OHG. tropo, G. tropfen, Icel. dropi, Sw. droppe; and
   Fr. AS. dre['o]pan to drip, drop; akin to OS. driopan, D.
   druipen, OHG. triofan, G. triefen, Icel. drj?pa. Cf. {Drip},
   {Droop}.]
   1. The quantity of fluid which falls in one small spherical
      mass; a liquid globule; a minim; hence, also, the smallest
      easily measured portion of a fluid; a small quantity; as,
      a drop of water.

            With minute drops from off the eaves. --Milton.

            As dear to me as are the ruddy drops That visit my
            sad heart.                            -- Shak.

            That drop of peace divine.            --Keble.

   2. That which resembles, or that which hangs like, a liquid
      drop; as a hanging diamond ornament, an earring, a glass
      pendant on a chandelier, a sugarplum (sometimes
      medicated), or a kind of shot or slug.

   3. (Arch.)
      (a) Same as {Gutta}.
      (b) Any small pendent ornament.

   4. Whatever is arranged to drop, hang, or fall from an
      elevated position; also, a contrivance for lowering
      something; as:
      (a) A door or platform opening downward; a trap door; that
          part of the gallows on which a culprit stands when he
          is to be hanged; hence, the gallows itself.
      (b) A machine for lowering heavy weights, as packages,
          coal wagons, etc., to a ship's deck.
      (c) A contrivance for temporarily lowering a gas jet.
      (d) A curtain which drops or falls in front of the stage
          of a theater, etc.
      (e) A drop press or drop hammer.
      (f) (Mach.) The distance of the axis of a shaft below the
          base of a hanger.

   5. pl. Any medicine the dose of which is measured by drops;
      as, lavender drops.

   6. (Naut.) The depth of a square sail; -- generally applied
      to the courses only. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.

   7. Act of dropping; sudden fall or descent.

   {Ague drop}, {Black drop}. See under {Ague}, {Black}.

   {Drop by drop}, in small successive quantities; in repeated
      portions. ``Made to taste drop by drop more than the
      bitterness of death.'' --Burke.

   {Drop curtain}. See {Drop}, n., 4.
      (d) .

   {Drop forging}. (Mech.)
      (a) A forging made in dies by a drop hammer.
      (b) The process of making drop forgings.

   {Drop hammer} (Mech.), a hammer for forging, striking up
      metal, etc., the weight being raised by a strap or similar
      device, and then released to drop on the metal resting on
      an anvil or die.

   {Drop kick} (Football), a kick given to the ball as it
      rebounds after having been dropped from the hands.

   {Drop lake}, a pigment obtained from Brazil wood. --Mollett.

   {Drop letter}, a letter to be delivered from the same office
      where posted.

   {Drop press} (Mech.), a drop hammer; sometimes, a dead-stroke
      hammer; -- also called drop.

   {Drop scene}, a drop curtain on which a scene is painted. See
      {Drop}, n., 4.
      (d) .

   {Drop seed}. (Bot.) See the List under {Glass}.

   {Drop serene}. (Med.) See {Amaurosis}.