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Synonyms

drop the ball

Idioms  

  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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Martinelli dropped the ball on his opponent before shoving him in the back in an attempt to get him off the playing surface to allow the game to continue.

From BBC

Martinelli then dropped the ball on the full-back before shoving him in the back in an attempt to get him off the playing surface to allow the game to continue.

From BBC

Toulouse dropped the ball at a line out five metres out.

From Barron's

In the 56th minute they piled on, Darcy Graham almost getting over in the corner, but dropping the ball under pressure.

From BBC

"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.'"

From BBC

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.