Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
📦 To deliver 📉 To decrease 😴 To fall asleep 🍂 To fall off 🏃 To retreat
to drop off

to drop off

400 3.0
To take someone or something to a place and leave them there
  • phrasal verb
  • /drɑp ɔf/
translation icon : dejar
  • I'll tell you where to drop me off.
  • a bus drops off passengers
  • just drop off here
  • to drop off materials

You know, you, you drop the kid off, OK, come pick him up.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • So people would drop off their kids there for two hours, go work out.

    Two Hot Takes

  • Landscapers, homeowners, and others can drop material off there as well.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Actually, I am going to drop off some mail.

    Kenna Marie

  • We'll pick you up and drop you off.

    Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013)

  • "Can we stop somewhere on the way so I can drop off my film to be developed?"

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Grace had already returned from the summer camp where she dropped off the kids.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • I just dropped off a package.

    A Man Called Otto (2022)

  • And then I'm going to go drop these off at the post office.

  • I told her I would drop off her book on my way to the grocery store.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • I will drop off the package at the post office before heading home.

Synonyms

to deliver
vsto drop off
933 1.0

To bring letters or goods to a person, a place

also applies to bringing people, not only goods or mail
to drop
vsto drop off
722 2.7

To take someone or something from a vehicle and leave them at a place

means the same action but is the more general everyday term
to unload
vsto drop off
125 2.6

Take things or people out of a vehicle like a truck

stresses bringing and leaving someone or something at a place
to put down
vsto drop off
45 3.4

To leave people or things at a place from a vehicle

focuses on delivering and leaving rather than only removal from a vehicle
to offload
vsto drop off
11 3.9

To take goods off a vehicle or container

includes handing over or leaving people or items at a destination
to set down
vsto drop off
4 3.2

To take people or goods off a vehicle and leave them at a place

is similar but can be used more broadly in casual speech
to deliver package
vsto drop off
3 2.0

To take a package to a person or place and give it to them

is broader, covering people or any items left at a place

Antonyms

to pick up
∞ 2.5

To get something from a store or give someone a ride

How Final

to hand over
296 2.8
to drop off
400 3.0
to leave
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

drop off infinitive
dropped off past
dropped off past participle
dropping off present participle
drops off third person singular

Morphology

drop + off

The meaning 'to fall from a position' is directly and compositionally derived from 'drop' (to fall or let fall) plus 'off' (away from a surface/place). This is a common, literal verb+particle spatial construction found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Drop off The phrasal verb drop off comes from the simple act of stopping to leave someone or something: drop (put down) and off (leave at a place), like a driver dropping a passenger off at a door. So, it means 'to deliver' or leave someone or something at a place.