drop-off

[ drop-awf, -of ]

noun

1. a vertical or very steep descent:

   The trail has a drop-off of several hundred feet.

2. a decline; decrease:

   Sales have shown a considerable drop-off this year.

3. a place where a person or thing can be left, received, accommodated, etc.:

   a new drop-off for outpatients.

adjective

1. applied when a rented vehicle is left elsewhere than at the point of hire:

   to pay a drop-off charge.

drop off

verb

1. intr to grow smaller or less; decline
2. tr to allow to alight; set down
3. informal.
   intr to fall asleep

noun

1. a steep or vertical descent
2. a sharp decrease

Word History and Origins

Origin of drop-off¹

First recorded in 1955–60; noun, adj. use of verb phrase drop off

Example Sentences

The effort has not just been focused on “drop-off” voters—that is, Democrats who voted in 2012 but not in the 2010 midterms.

From The Daily Beast

Not far from the drop-off point, the team ran into their first roadblock.

From The Daily Beast

The drop-off is even steeper over the past 30 years: in 1982 the number was 56.4 percent.

From The Daily Beast

The U.S. economic recovery, largely driven by a recovery in housing, could be threatened by this drop-off.

From The Daily Beast

But I would expect to see some drop-off in applications, perhaps a substantial one.

From The Daily Beast

A fine, large fire was started on the ledge of rock that extended out from the "Shelter" to a drop-off of some twenty feet.

From Project Gutenberg

I crossed a mesa and came to an abrupt drop-off—two hundred feet sheer.

From Project Gutenberg

Here we met another problem, in the form of a rounded ten foot drop-off to the concrete table.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• diminish
• dwindle
• fall away
• fall off
• lessen
• sag
• slacken