droop
English
Etymology
From Middle English droupen, from Old Norse drúpa (“to droop”), from Proto-Germanic *drūpaną, *drupōną (“to hang down, drip, drop”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewb- (“to drip, drop”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: drūp, IPA(key): /ˈdɹuːp/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -uːp
- Homophone: drupe
Verb
droop (third-person singular simple present droops, present participle drooping, simple past and past participle drooped)
- (intransitive) To hang downward; to sag.
- 1866, John Keegan Casey, “Maire My Girl” in A Wreath of Shamrocks, Dublin: Robert S. McGee, p. 20,
- On the brown harvest tree
- Droops the red cherry.
- a. 1992, quote attributed to Sylvester Stallone
- I'm not handsome in the classical sense. The eyes droop, the mouth is crooked, the teeth aren't straight, the voice sounds like a Mafioso pallbearer, but somehow it all works.
- 1866, John Keegan Casey, “Maire My Girl” in A Wreath of Shamrocks, Dublin: Robert S. McGee, p. 20,
- (intransitive) To slowly become limp; to bend gradually.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:
- Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
While night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.
- 1676, Thomas Hobbes (translator), Homer’s Iliads in English, London: William Crook, Book 18, p. 289,
- The Grapes that on it hung were black, and all
- The Vines supported and from drooping staid
- With silver Props, that down they could not fall […]
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:
- Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth […].
- 1944 September and October, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 285:
- Others who conscientiously attended the Technical College at night often drooped over their desks in a doze, and one does not wonder at it.
- 2010, john g rees, Halocline:
- His head had drooped with his hair across his face.
- 2012, Howie Carr, Hard Knocks:
- She was trying to hang in, but her chin was drooping onto her chest.
-
- (intransitive) To lose all energy, enthusiasm or happiness; to flag.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:
- But wherefore do you droop? why look you sad?
- 1685, John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis, London: Jacob Tonson, XII, p. 17,
- Amidst the peaceful Triumphs of his Reign,
- What wonder if the kindly beams he shed
- Reviv’d the drooping Arts again […]
- 1711, [Jonathan Swift], Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1711, OCLC 4102757, page 284:
- I saw him accidentally once or twice about 10 Days before he died, and observed he began very much to Droop and Languish […]
- 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, OCLC 79426475, Act IV, scene i, page 5:
- I’ll animate the Soldier’s drooping Courage,
With Love of Freedom, and Contempt of Life.
-
- (transitive) To allow to droop or sink.
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene v]:
- […] pithless arms, like to a wither’d vine
That droops his sapless branches to the ground;
- 1892, Arthur Christopher Benson, “Knapweed” in Le Cahier Jaune: Poems, Eton: privately printed, p. 62,
- Down in the mire he droops his head;
- Forgotten, not forgiven.
-
- To proceed downward, or toward a close; to decline.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554, lines 175-178:
- […] let us forth,
I never from thy side henceforth to stray,
Wherere our days work lies, though now enjoind
Laborious, till day droop […]
- 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part II”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], OCLC 2024748, page 46:
- […] and now when day
Droop’d, and the chapel tinkled, mixt with those
Six hundred maidens clad in purest white […]
-
Derived terms
- droopage
Translations
to sink or hang downward; to sag
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to slowly become limp; to bend gradually
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to lose all enthusiasm or happiness
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
droop (plural droops)
- Something which is limp or sagging.
- A condition or posture of drooping.
- He walked with a discouraged droop.
- (aviation) A hinged portion of the leading edge of an aeroplane's wing, which swivels downward to increase lift during takeoff and landing.
Coordinate terms
(part of aeroplane wing):
- slat
Derived terms
- brewer's droop
- droop nose
- droop snoot
Translations
a condition or posture of drooping
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aviation: a hinged portion of the leading edge
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Related terms
- drooped
- drooping
- droopy
References
- droop at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- Podor
Dutch
Pronunciation
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -oːp
Verb
droop
- singular past indicative of druipen