drop

DROP is a term with multiple meanings across everyday language, science, and technology. As a noun, it commonly refers to a small amount of liquid that falls or is released, such as a raindrop, dew drop, or tear drop. As a verb, drop means to let something fall, to release or discard something, or to fall from a height or position. In practical use, drop can also denote a drop-off location, a delivery, or the act of removing an item from a list or a system.

The word’s origins lie in Old English, with forms such as drippan or dropa, related to Proto-Germanic roots about falling or dripping. Over time, the term broadened to encompass various senses of releasing, decreasing, or removing, as well as the everyday act of letting something fall.

In science and everyday observation, a drop describes a small, roughly spherical volume of liquid formed by surface tension. Droplets arise by atomization, condensation, or breakup of larger drops. Droplet size varies from fractions of a millimeter to millimeters in diameter. The study of drops touches fluid mechanics, evaporation, coalescence, and interfacial phenomena, and the behavior of drops is central to fields such as meteorology, agriculture, and inkjet technology.

In computing and information technology, DROP is a command or operator used to remove database objects, such as DROP TABLE or DROP DATABASE. It is part of data definition language and typically results in irreversible deletion of the object and its data, subject to database-specific rules and protections. In modern popular culture, drops also refer to the release of media or digital content, including music tracks, software updates, or loot in video games.