a student who withdraws before completing a course of instruction. drop out - withdraw from established society, especially because of disillusion with conventional values; "She hasn't heard from her brother in years--he dropped out after moving to California" retire , withdraw - withdraw from active participation; "He retired from chess" : a drop kick made by a defending team from within its own 25-yard (23-meter) line as a result of a touchdown or of the ball's having touched or gone outside of a touch-in-goal line or the dead-ball line.a halftone negative or plate in which dots have been eliminated from highlights by continued etching, burning in, opaquing, or the like.the loss of portions of the information on a recorded magnetic tape due to contamination of the magnetic medium or poor contact with the tape heads.a small quantity of liquid that falls or is produced in a more or less spherical mass; a liquid globule.the quantity of liquid contained in such a globule.liquid medicine given in a dose or form of globules from a medicine a solution for dilating the pupils of the eyes, administered to the eyes in globules by a medicine dropper.a decline in amount, degree, quality, value, etc. To let someone or something fall or proceed out of something. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!Learn a new word every day.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
How to use dropout in a sentence. Will you drop your old friends if you win the lottery?to cease to employ, admit as a member, or include, as on a list; dismiss: to drop an accountant from the payroll; to drop three members of the club who have not paid their dues.The police dropped the charges against the suspect.to throw, shoot, hit, kick, or roll (a ball, puck, etc.) Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Learn more. 1. to not do something you were planning to do, or to stop doing something before you have finished: Some bidders are rumoured to have dropped out because of the cost of putting the company back on its feet. to stop attending school or college.
through or into a basket, hole, or other goal: He dropped the ball through the basket for two points.They dropped two games in a row and were eliminated from the tournament.The Marines dropped 300 combat troops into the jungle battlefield.to lower (the wheels) into position for landing an airplane.to take (especially an illicit drug) by swallowing; ingest: Her long illness caused her to drop behind the rest of the class.to drop out of a club; to drop out of society and become a wanderer.a small quantity of liquid that forms or falls in a spherical or pear-shaped mass; globulesomething resembling a drop in shape or size, such as a decorative pendant or small sweetthe act of unloading troops, equipment, or supplies by parachute(in cable television) a short spur from a trunk cable that feeds signals to an individual housea slot or aperture through which an object can be dropped to fall into a receptaclean amount very small in relation to what is needed or desiredto sink or fall or cause to sink or fall to the ground, as from a blow, wound, shot, weariness, etcto fall, move, or go in a specified manner, direction, etcto decrease or cause to decrease in amount or valueto sink or cause to sink to a lower position, as on a scaleto move along gently as with a current of water or airto unload (troops, equipment, or supplies) by parachuteto spin (the car) and (usually) crash out of the racea student who fails to complete a school or college coursea drop kick taken by the defending team to restart play, as after a touchdowna momentary loss of signal in a magnetic recording medium as a result of an imperfection in its magnetic coatingto abandon or withdraw from (a school, social group, job, etc)The smallest quantity of liquid heavy enough to fall in a spherical mass.A small globular piece of candy, usually readily dissolved in the mouth.He couldn't afford the membership dues and had to drop out Find descriptive alternatives for drop out. Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Dropping out means leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. one who drops out of school; one who drops out of conventional society; one who abandons an attempt, activity, or … (in reinforced-concrete-slab construction) a thickened portion of the ceiling around a column head.the free motion of an escape wheel between successive checks by the pallet.to fall in globules or small portions, as water or other liquid: to sink or fall to the ground, floor, or bottom as if inanimate.to fall lower in condition, degree, value, etc.
drop out, to withdraw from being a member or participant: to drop out of a club; to drop out of society and become a wanderer.
In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "drop" and "out." "Drop out" suggested an active, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments.