drop the ball

1. Make an error; miss an opportunity. For example, She really dropped the ball when she forgot to call back, or He dropped the ball, turning down their offer. This expression comes from sports where a player who fails to catch a ball is charged with an error. Its use for more general kinds of mistakes dates from about 1950.

Example Sentences

"I blame all the adults in my life that literally just dropped the ball and said: 'She's here in America now, she's going to be fine.'"

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The Black Caps still needed another 93 when Luke Wood dropped the ball when a reverse sweep from Mitchell looped up to him at backward point.

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Quarterback Dominick Catalano dropped the ball, picked it up and found Plinski, who also used his lacrosse skills to make the catch.

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But that doesn’t mean Biden’s doctors dropped the ball earlier, he and others said.

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"It cannot drop the ball and allow the collapse of Northern Ireland's strategic and world-class aerospace sector."

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Related Words

• err 
• misconstrue 
• misinterpret 
• misjudge 
• misread 
• misunderstand 
• overestimate 
• overrate 
• overvalue 
• underestimate 
• undervalue