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Glite Dictionary
to drop one's bundle

to drop one's bundle

9.9
To suddenly lose control of your feelings because you feel overwhelmed
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : perder el control
  • After hearing the bad news, he dropped his bundle and started to cry.

Examples

  • I nearly dropped my bundle when I saw the amount of work I had left to do.

  • Don't drop your bundle now!

  • She really dropped her bundle during the presentation and forgot what she was saying.

  • She dropped her bundle during the presentation.

  • When he heard the bad news, he completely dropped his bundle and couldn't stop crying.

  • After failing the exam, she felt like she had dropped her bundle in front of her classmates.

  • He tends to drop his bundle whenever things get too stressful at work.

Synonyms

to lose it
vsto drop one's bundle
  • Informal
289 7.5

Suddenly stop controlling your feelings and become very angry or upset

is a broader, often more sustained collapse into overwhelm rather than a sudden outburst
to fall apart
vsto drop one's bundle
  • Informal
193 4.2

To lose control of your feelings because of strong stress or sadness

focuses more on feeling overwhelmed or defeated rather than only collapsing
to break down
vsto drop one's bundle
111 3.9

To lose control of your feelings and cry or collapse

is mainly an inner loss of composure and defeat rather than physical collapse
to tear one's hair out
vsto drop one's bundle
  • Informal
1 7.7

To feel very frustrated and worried because of a problem

is inward emotional breakdown and overwhelm rather than an active display of frustration
to lose one's shit
vsto drop one's bundle
  • Offensive
9.9

To suddenly become very angry or upset in a way you cannot control

is a more general emotional collapse without the vulgar explosive style
to get your undies in a bundle
vsto drop one's bundle
  • Informal
9.9

To become very upset about something small

describes deeper, serious distress rather than a small overreaction
to untune
vsto drop one's bundle
  • Archaic
8.9

To make someone lose their calm and feel upset

describes the person’s own collapse into distress rather than an external cause

Antonyms

to get a grip
  • Informal
56 5.6

To calm down and control your feelings

to keep one's cool
  • Informal
30 3.4

Stay calm and control your feelings when things are hard

How Distressed

to drop one's bundle
  • UK
9.9
to lose one's cool
  • Informal
5.9
upset
∞ 1.0
worried
∞ 1.0
uneasy
98 3.2

Surface Forms

drop one's bundle infinitive
dropped one's bundle past
dropped one's bundle past participle
dropping one's bundle present participle
drops one's bundle third person singular

Morphology

drop + one's + bundle

Although 'drop' can sometimes mean 'lose' and 'one's' marks possession, the literal sense of 'bundle' (a tied package) has no obvious link to composure or emotional control. The idiomatic sense 'to lose control or composure' cannot be predicted from the constituents and is language-specific and unpredictable for a B1 learner, so it is opaque.

Etymology

The idiom drop one's bundle may come from the picture of a person carrying a heavy bundle who suddenly drops it because they are shocked or cannot cope. So dropping the load became a way to say 'to lose control' or 'to become very upset'.