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Glite Dictionary
to drop open

to drop open

3 3.7
To have the mouth or jaw suddenly fall open because of surprise
  • phrasal verb
  • /drɑp ˈoʊpən/
translation icon : caer abierta
  • When she saw Emma's mouth drop open in shock, her heart was lost.
  • her mouth drops open
  • his jaw dropped open

Examples

  • As Thompson spoke, Fielding's head rose slowly, and his mouth dropped open in amazement.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • As soon as Jackson's eyes came to rest on the photo, his mouth dropped open.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Then his eyes went back to Johnnie, and his mouth dropped open.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The children stared at me; some of their mouths dropped open in surprise.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Phil's mouth dropped open, and for a moment I thought he was going to start stammering again.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Goldman's mouth dropped open, and he yelled in disbelief as the pistol turned in his direction.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • When she heard the shocking news, her mouth dropped open in disbelief.

  • As the magician revealed his final trick, the audience's jaws dropped open in amazement.

  • Seeing the unexpected gift made his mouth dropped open with surprise.

Synonyms

to fly open
vsto drop open
11 3.3

To open suddenly, often because of wind or force

is an involuntary sudden gape caused by surprise not by force
jaw dropped
vsto drop open
  • Informal
7 5.4

To feel very surprised and open your mouth wide

is the actual sudden involuntary gape itself rather than a description
to fall open
vsto drop open
4 3.0

To move apart by itself suddenly because of surprise or gravity

is specifically an involuntary gape of a body part caused by shock
to drop one's jaw
vsto drop open
  • Informal
4.4

Open your mouth wide in surprise

is a sudden involuntary gape of a body part from shock

Antonyms

to close
∞ 1.0

To shut something so it is not open

How Wide

to drop open
3 3.7
gape
2 4.8
to open
∞ 1.0
to shut
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

drop + open

The meaning is directly compositional: 'drop' (to fall) plus 'open' (not closed) yields 'to fall open', so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer that a mouth or jaw suddenly becomes open. This is a common motion/position combination (often used with body parts) and is cross-linguistically transparent, so the sense is predictable.

Etymology

The phrasal verb drop open comes from the image of a mouth or jaw suddenly falling and becoming wide when someone is very surprised. So the words drop and open give the picture, and that's why it means 'to fall open suddenly because of surprise'.