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Drop vs Lay - What's the difference?

drop | lay |

As a noun drop

is a small mass of liquid just large enough to hold its own weight via surface tension, usually one that falls from a source of liquid.

As a verb drop

is to fall in droplets (of a liquid).

As a proper noun lay is

a river in western france.

drop

English

(wikipedia drop)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A small mass of liquid just large enough to hold its own weight via surface tension, usually one that falls from a source of liquid.
  • Put three drops of oil into the mixture.
  • The space or distance below a cliff or other high position into which someone or something could fall.
  • On one side of the road was a 50-foot drop .
  • A fall, descent; an act of dropping.
  • That was a long drop , but fortunately I didn't break any bones.
  • * '>citation
  • It moved in surges, like a roller coaster on a series of drops and high-banked turns.
  • A place where items or supplies may be left for others to collect, sometimes associated with criminal activity; a drop-off point.
  • I left the plans at the drop , like you asked.
  • An instance of dropping supplies or making a delivery, sometimes associated with delivery of supplies by parachute.
  • The delivery driver has to make three more drops before lunch.
  • (chiefly, British) a small amount of an alcoholic beverage; or when used with the definite article (the drop ), alcoholic spirits in general.
  • He usually enjoys a drop after dinner.
    It doesn't matter where you're from; anyone who enjoys the drop is a friend of mine.
  • (Ireland, informal) A single measure of whisky.
  • A small, round, sweet piece of hard candy, a lemon drop; a lozenge.
  • (American football) A dropped pass.
  • Yet another drop for the Tiger tight end.
  • (American football) Short for drop-back or drop back.
  • The Tiger quarterback took a one-step drop , expecting his tight end to be open.
  • In a woman'', the difference between bust circumference and hip circumference; ''in a man , the difference between chest circumference and waist circumference.
  • (video games, online gaming) Any item dropped by defeated enemies.
  • (music) A point in a song, usually electronic styled music such as dubstep, house and trance, where everything is played at once, also known highlight, or climax.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=June 26 , author=Genevieve Koski , title=Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=But musical ancestry aside, the influence to which Bieber is most beholden is the current trends in pop music, which means Believe is loaded up with EDM accouterments, seeking a comfortable middle ground where Bieber’s impressively refined pop-R&B croon can rub up on techno blasts and garish dubstep drops (and occasionally grind on some AutoTune, not necessarily because it needs it, but because a certain amount of robo-voice is expected these days).}}
  • (US, banking, dated) an unsolicited credit card issue
  • The vertical length of a hanging curtain.
  • That which resembles or hangs like a liquid drop: a hanging diamond ornament, an earring, a glass pendant on a chandelier, etc.
  • (architecture) A gutta.
  • A mechanism for lowering something, such as: a trapdoor; a machine for lowering heavy weights onto a ship's deck; a device for temporarily lowering a gas jet; a curtain which falls in front of a theatrical stage; etc.
  • A drop press or drop hammer.
  • (engineering) The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.
  • (nautical) The depth of a square sail; generally applied to the courses only.
  • Derived terms

    * dropless * droplike * raindrop

    Verb

    (dropp)
  • To fall in droplets (of a liquid).
  • * Spenser
  • The kindly dew drops from the higher tree, / And wets the little plants that lowly dwell.
  • To drip (a liquid).
  • * Creech
  • The trees drop balsam.
  • * Sterne
  • The recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever.
  • Generally, to fall (straight down).
  • (ergative) To let fall; to allow to fall (either by releasing hold of, or losing one's grip on).
  • To let drops fall; to discharge itself in drops.
  • * Bible, Psalms lxviii. 8
  • The heavens dropped at the presence of God.
  • To sink quickly to the ground.
  • To fall dead, or to fall in death.
  • * Digby
  • Nothing, says Seneca, so soon reconciles us to the thoughts of our own death, as the prospect of one friend after another dropping round us.
  • To come to an end (by not being kept up); to stop.
  • * 1897 , (Henry James), (What Maisie Knew) :
  • Maisie's faith in Mrs. Wix for instance had suffered no lapse from the fact that all communication with her had temporarily dropped .
  • To mention casually or incidentally, usually in conversation.
  • (slang) To part with or spend (money).
  • * 1949 , The Atlantian , v 8, Atlanta: United States Penitentiary, p 41:
  • The question was: Who put the most in the collection box? The wealthy guy, who dropped a “C” note, or the tattered old dame who parted with her last tarnished penny.
  • * 2000 , Lisa Reardon, Blameless: A Novel , Random House, p 221:
  • I forked over the $19.25. I was in no position to be dropping twenties like gumdrops but I deserved something good from this crappy morning.
  • To cease concerning oneself over; to have nothing more to do with (a subject, discussion etc.).
  • * S. Sharp
  • They suddenly drop't the pursuit.
  • * Thackeray
  • that astonishing ease with which fine ladies drop you and pick you up again
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • The connection had been dropped many years.
  • To lessen, decrease, or diminish in value, condition, degree, etc.
  • * , chapter=17
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}
  • To let (a letter etc.) fall into a postbox; to send (a letter or message).
  • To make (someone or something) fall to the ground from a blow, gunshot etc.; to bring down, to shoot down.
  • * 1846, ed. by G. W. Nickisson, “Elephant-Shooting in Ceylon”, in , vol. XXXIII, no. CXCVII
  • page 562: ...if the first shot does not drop him, and he rushes on, the second will be a very hurried and most likely ineffectual one...
    page 568 ...with a single shot he dropped him like a master of the art.
  • * 1892 , Alexander A. A. Kinloch, Large Game Shooting in Thibet, the Himalayas, Northern and Central India , page 126
  • As with all other animals, a shot behind the shoulder is the most likely to drop the beast on the spot
  • * 1921 , Daniel Henderson, Boone of the Wilderness , page 54
  • He dropped the beast with a bullet in its heart.
  • * 1985 , (Beastie Boys), :
  • The piano player's out, the music stopped / His boy had beef, and he got dropped ...
  • * 1992, Dan Parkinson, Dust on the Wind , page 164
  • With a quick clench of the fist on Joey's throat, Bodie dropped him. The man crumpled to the ground
  • (linguistics) To fail to write, or (especially) to pronounce (a syllable, letter etc.).
  • (cricket, of a fielder) To fail to make a catch from a batted ball that would have lead to the batsman being out.
  • (slang) To swallow (a drug), particularly LSD.
  • to dispose (of); get rid of; to remove; to lose
  • to eject; to dismiss; to cease to include, as if on a list.
  • (slang) To impart.
  • (transitive, music, colloquial) To release to the public.
  • (music) To play a portion of music in the manner of a disc jockey.
  • (intransitive, music, colloquial) To enter public distribution.
  • (music) To tune (a guitar string, etc.) to a lower note.
  • To cancel or end a scheduled event, project or course
  • (fast food) To cook, especially by deep-frying or grilling.
  • (of a voice) To lower in timbre, often relating to puberty.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=June 26, author=Genevieve Koski, work=The Onion AV Club
  • , title= Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe , passage=The 18-year-old Bieber can’t quite pull off the “adult” thing just yet: His voice may have dropped a bit since the days of “Baby,” but it still mostly registers as “angelic,” and veers toward a pubescent whine at times. }}
  • (of a sound or song) To lower in pitch, tempo, key, or other quality.
  • (of people) To visit informally; used with in'' or ''by .
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.}}
  • To give birth to.
  • to drop a lamb
  • To cover with drops; to variegate; to bedrop.
  • * Milton
  • their waved coats dropped with gold
  • To hang lower and begin producing sperm due to puberty.
  • Derived terms

    (terms derived from the noun or verb "drop") * a drop in the bucket * air-drop * at the drop of a hat * black drop effect * cough drop * dewdrop * drop a bollock * drop a bomb * drop a dime * drop a line * drop-add form * drop back, drop-back * drop-ball * drop by * drop cap * drop cloth * drop curtain * drop dead, drop-dead * drop-down * drop goal * drop in, drop-in * drop kerb * drop kick, drop-kicker * drop-leaf table * droplet * drop like flies * drop off, dropoff, drop-off * drop out, dropout, drop-out * dropper * droppings * drop scene * drop scone * drop shot * drop the gloves * drop the ball * drop trou * eye-drop * get the drop on * name-drop, name-dropping * one drop * one-drop rule * the penny drops * Turkey drop * raindrop * so quiet one can hear a pin drop * teardrop * waiting for the other shoe to drop

    lay

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) layen, leggen, from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • (label) To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
  • to lay''' a book on the table;   to '''lay a body in the grave
    A shower of rain lays the dust.
  • * Bible, (w) vi. 17
  • A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.
  • * 1735 , author unknown, The New-England Primer'', as reported by Fred R. Shapiro in ''The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Yale University Press, pages 549–550:
  • Now I lay me down to sleep, / I pray the Lord my Soul to keep. / If I should die before I ’wake, / I pray the Lord my Soul to take.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him.}}
  • *
  • *:An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.
  • :: A corresponding intransitive version of this word is .
  • To cause to subside or abate.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.viii:
  • The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd , they fiercely then begin to shoure
  • * 1662 , , Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems , Dialogue 2:
  • But how upon the winds being laid , doth the ship cease to move?
  • (label) To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).
  • * 2006 , (Clive James), North Face of Soho , Picador 2007, p. 48:
  • Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled.
  • (label) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
  • lay''' brick;  '''lay flooring
  • (label) To produce and deposit an egg.
  • (label) To bet (that something is or is not the case).
  • I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.
  • (label) To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I dare lay mine honour / He will remain so.
  • To have sex with.
  • * 1944 , (Raymond Chandler), The Lady in the Lake , Penguin 2011, p. 11:
  • ‘It's because he's a no-good son of a bitch who thinks it is smart to lay his friends' wives and brag about it.’
  • (label) To take a position; to come or go.
  • to lay''' forward;  to '''lay aloft
  • (label) To state; to allege.
  • to lay the venue
    (Bouvier)
  • (label) To point; to aim.
  • to lay a gun
  • (label) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.
  • to lay a cable or rope
  • (label) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
  • (label) To place (new type) properly in the cases.
  • To apply; to put.
  • * Bible, (w) xxxi. 19
  • She layeth her hands to the spindle.
  • To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).
  • to lay a tax on land
  • * Bible, (w) liii. 6
  • The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
  • To impute; to charge; to allege.
  • * Bible, (w) xxiv. 12
  • God layeth not folly to them.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Lay the fault on us.
  • To present or offer.
  • to lay''' an indictment in a particular county;   to '''lay a scheme before one
    (Webster 1913)
    Derived terms
    * lay a finger on * lay a foundation * lay an egg * lay about * lay away * lay bare * lay-by/lay by * lay claim * lay down * lay hands on * lay-in * laying on of hands * lay into * lay low * layoff * lay on the line * lay on the table * lay out * lay siege * lay the groundwork * lay to rest * lay up * lay waste * get laid

    References

    *

    Etymology 2

    From the verb.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Arrangement or relationship; layout.
  • the lay of the land
  • A share of the profits in a business.
  • * 1851 ,
  • I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays', and that these ' lays were proportioned to the degree of importance pertaining to the respective duties of the ship’s company.
  • The direction a rope is twisted.
  • Worm and parcel with the lay ; turn and serve the other way.
  • (colloquial) A casual sexual partner.
  • * 1996 , JoAnn Ross, Southern Comforts , MIRA (1996), ISBN 9780778315254, page 166:
  • Over the years she'd tried to tell himself that his uptown girl was just another lay .
  • * 2000 , R. J. Kaiser, Fruitcake , MIRA (2000), ISBN 1551666251, page 288:
  • To find a place like that and be discreet about it, Jones figured he needed help, so he went to see his favorite lay , Juan Carillo's woman, Carmen.
  • * 2011 , Kelly Meding, Trance , Pocket Books (2011), ISBN 9781451620924, pages 205-206:
  • “Because I don't want William to be just another lay . I did the slut thing, T, and it got me into a lot of trouble years ago.
    What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?
  • (colloquial) An act of sexual intercourse.
  • * 1993 , David Halberstam, The Fifties , Open Road Integrated Media (2012), ISBN 9781453286074, unnumbered page:
  • Listening to this dismissal of his work, [Tennessee] Williams thought to himself of Wilder, “This character has never had a good lay .”
  • * 2009 , Fern Michaels, The Scoop , Kensington Books (2009), ISBN 9780758227188, pages 212-213:
  • She didn't become this germ freak until Thomas died. I wonder if she just needs a good lay , you know, an all-nighter?" Toots said thoughtfully.
  • * 2011 , Pamela Yaye, Promises We Make , Kimani Press (2011), ISBN 9780373861996, unnumbered page:
  • “What she needs is a good lay . If she had someone to rock her world on a regular basis, she wouldn't be such a raging bit—”
  • (slang, archaic) A plan; a scheme.
  • (Charles Dickens)
    Synonyms
    * (casual sexual partner) see also .
    Derived terms
    * lay of the land

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) laie, lawe, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A lake.
  • Etymology 4

    From (etyl)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1960 , author= , title=(Jeeves in the Offing) , section=chapter VII , passage=He hasn't caught a mouse since he was a slip of a kitten. Except when eating, he does nothing but sleep. [...] It's a sort of disease. There's a scientific name for it. Trau- something. Traumatic symplegia, that's it. This cat has traumatic symplegia. In other words, putting it in simple language adapted to the lay mind, where other cats are content to get their eight hours, Augustus wants his twenty-four.}}
  • Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.
  • They seemed more lay than clerical.
    a lay''' preacher; a '''lay brother
  • (obsolete) Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.
  • Etymology 5

    : See lie

    Verb

    (head)
  • (lie) when pertaining to position.
  • The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.
  • (proscribed) To be in a horizontal position; to lie (from confusion with lie).
  • * 1969' July, Bob Dylan, “'''Lay''' Lady '''Lay ”, ''Nashville Skyline , Columbia:
  • Lay', lady, '''lay'''. / ' Lay across my big brass bed.
  • * a.'' 1970 , Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, ''Bridge over Troubled Water , Columbia Records:
  • Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters / Where the ragged people go
  • * 1974 , John Denver, “Annie’s Song”, Back Home Again , RCA:
  • Let me lay down beside you. / Let me always be with you.
    Derived terms
    * layabout

    Etymology 6

    From (etyl) lay, from (etyl) . See lake.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.
  • 1805' ''The '''Lay of the Last Minstrel , Sir Walter Scott.
    Derived terms
    * layoff

    Etymology 7

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A meadow; a lea.
  • (Dryden)

    Etymology 8

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A law.
  • * Spenser
  • many goodly lays
  • (obsolete) An obligation; a vow.
  • * Holland
  • They bound themselves by a sacred lay and oath.

    Etymology 9

    .

    Verb

  • To don (put on) (tefillin (gloss)).
  • Statistics

    *