DRIP

¹

[dee-ahr-ahy-pee, drip]

abbreviation

Business, Finance.

1. dividend reinvestment plan: a program under which investors opt to have their dividends automatically applied to the purchase of more shares in the company, increasing their investment while avoiding commission charges.

drip

²

[drip]

verb (used without object)

dripped, dript, dripping. 

1. to let drops fall; shed drops.

   This faucet drips.

2. to fall in drops, as a liquid.

   Synonyms: drizzle, sprinkle, leak, dribble, trickle

verb (used with object)

dripped, dript, dripping. 

1. to let fall in drops.

noun

1. an act of dripping.

2. liquid that drips.

3. the sound made by falling drops.

   the irritating drip of a faucet.

4. Slang.,  an unattractive, boring, or colorless person.

5. (in house painting) the accumulation of solidified drops of paint at the bottom of a painted surface.

6. Architecture, Building Trades.,  any device, as a molding, for shedding rainwater to keep it from running down a wall, falling onto the sill of an opening, etc.

7. a pipe for draining off condensed steam from a radiator, heat exchanger, etc.

8. Medicine/Medical.,  intravenous drip.

9. Slang.,  maudlin sentimentality.

drip

/ drɪp /

verb

1. to fall or let fall in drops

noun

1. the formation and falling of drops of liquid

2. the sound made by falling drops

3. architect a projection at the front lower edge of a sill or cornice designed to throw water clear of the wall below

4. informal,  an inane, insipid person

5. med

   1. the usually intravenous drop-by-drop administration of a therapeutic solution, as of salt or sugar

   2. the solution administered

   3. the equipment used to administer a solution in this way

Other Word Forms

• nondrip adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of DRIP¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Origin of DRIP²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English dryppe, Old English dryppan; drop

Word History and Origins

Origin of DRIP¹

Old English dryppan, from dropa _drop

Example Sentences

But drip coffee makers are often uninspired and just don’t do a great job.

Read more on Salon

She felt something dripping from her nose — then saw blood on the long sleeves of her shirt.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The blade turns midair so it flies into my hand hilt first— dripping with warm green saliva.

Read more on Literature

Perhaps she had come to prevent her unhappy customer from dripping hot salty tears on the books.

Read more on Literature

She folded the letter crisply, slipped it inside an envelope, and sealed it with a drip of wax from a candle.

Read more on Literature