drop-by
noun
a short and generally somewhat informal visit.
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drop-by
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drop by
drop byAlso,. Pay a brief, casual, and usually unannounced visit. For example, I asked her to drop by whenever she was in the neighborhood, or Joan loves to have friends drop in, or We'd love to drop over but we haven't time on this trip. The first term dates from the first half of the 1900s; drop in is from the mid-1600s and drop over from the late 1800s.
drop-by
American
[drahp-bahy]
/ ˈdrɑpˌbaɪ /
noun
drop-bys
plural
drop by
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
One of Fitts’ sons, Christian, shared a 57-second video on TikTok, offering a behind-the-scenes look at Biden’s drop-by, including the president admiring photos on the family’s fridge and his limo pulling out of their driveway.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
She added that Thomas made a "brief drop-by" at the network summit that year but said he "was not a participant."
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2023
After lunch, Pelosi pops into a drop-by meeting with some of her San Francisco constituents, then heads back to her office to catch President Biden’s speech outlining his budget proposal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2023
Still, that didn’t lessen the annoyance of what Kimmel declared the “cardinal sin of quarantine”: the random, unannounced neighborly drop-by that you can’t escape, since it’s not like you’re out on the town.
From The Guardian ● May 21, 2020
The 60s poets they go on to write like Frank OHara: fewer drop-by parties, meaner somehow.
From Unmanned by Oliver, Stephen
Yes, some newcomers might drop by who weren’t aware of practices, but for the most part, Monday is about continuing preparation for a season that begins Aug. 20-22.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
At J. Michael Bloom & Associates, I found Mickey Shera, who invited me to drop by.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
He survived a shocking drop by Ishan Kishan on 90 but ultimately ran out of balls to face in order to complete what would have been his second T20 international century.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Orozco estimated that the nearby fire had caused sales to drop by 70% over the past week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
The saddle was a good excuse to drop by.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
A small, no-reservations-required lounge area is designed for pop-ins and drop-bys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
As of this writing, it’s logged 194 house finch visits, 83 California towhee drop-bys, 5 squirrel sorties and a lone pine siskin pop in.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
Maybe your friends and family call just to chat, and you welcome these telephonic drop-bys even when they are not invited or forewarned.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 28, 2022
The candidate has favored meet-and-greets and sporting-event drop-bys that were not widely advertised ahead of time over the kinds of rallies he is holding in the campaign’s final days.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
Visitors--you get more office drop-bys when you have a weird walking desk than when you have doughnuts--sweetly avert their eyes as the weight question comes up.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
