plop
Americanverb (used without object)
-
plops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
plopped,
past participle, past
-
plopping
present participle
-
to make a sound like that of something falling or dropping into water.
A frog plopped into the pond.
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to fall with such a sound.
Big raindrops plopped against the window.
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to drop or fall with full force or direct impact.
He plopped into a chair.
verb (used with object)
-
plops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
plopped,
past participle, past
-
plopping
present participle
-
to drop or set down heavily.
She plopped her books on the desk.
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to cause to plop.
The fisherman plopped the bait into the river.
noun
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plops
plural
-
a plopping sound or fall.
-
the act of plopping.
adverb
noun
verb
interjection
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
plopsimple
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plopssimple
-
have ploppedperfect
-
has ploppedperfect
-
am ploppingprogressive
-
are ploppingprogressive
-
is ploppingprogressive
-
have been ploppingperfect progressive
-
has been ploppingperfect progressive
Past
-
ploppedsimple
-
had ploppedperfect
-
was ploppingprogressive
-
were ploppingprogressive
-
had been ploppingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of plop
First recorded in 1815–25; imitative
Explanation
To plop is to drop something (or yourself) with a short sound. The sound itself is also a plop — like something landing in water without much of a splash. The sound of a plop is abrupt and hollow — you could also call it a plunk or a or a plonk. You might plop an ice cube in your glass of water, or watch a flock of bird plop themselves on the surface of a pond. Plop is imitative or onomatopoeic (it sounds like its meaning), and it first appeared in the 1820s after the brief popularity of the alternative word plap.
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:
Perhaps the loudest: lobbyists and salespeople who have used open seating to zero in on a prospective client or lawmaker and plop down next to them for an in-flight pitch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
“Suddenly with a plop, the egg landed on the straw. With clucks of pleasure the hen shook her feathers, nudged the egg with her beak, and left,” Goodall wrote almost 60 years later.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025
They can often be identified from the distinctive plop sound they make when they dive into the water.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2024
They plop down in most of their destinations accidentally, since Widgit, the map’s keeper, is an inept navigator.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2024
The plop slimed down my hair, over my ear, and then along my neck and into the collar of my T-shirt, and still I didn’t move.
From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt
If, say, a housing development plops down where you live, you are forced to wander.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Enthralled, Elio plops a colander on his head and pleads for aliens to touch down and “take me with you — but not in a desperate way.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025
But instead of worrying about giving the audience too much of a good thing with a sequel, Feig plops another heaping scoop of melodrama onto the viewer’s plate.
From Salon ● May 3, 2025
In one episode, he dances into the kitchen, shouts “What’s up, party people?” and plops a basket of freshly folded laundry on the floor.
From New York Times ● Dec. 18, 2023
Then Baxter lets out a sigh and plops down on the grass.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
When it looked like my knuckles would punch holes in it, I plopped it down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Snoop Dogg, the rap rapscallion who puts the OG in Olympic Games, plopped down on a couch in the NBC green room and muted the TV.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2026
When the decorating was done, we plopped on the couch and looked at our tree with wonder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
As instructed, Negrete walked to the edge of the water, said his own prayer and, as a gift of thanks to the cosmos, plopped it into a crashing wave.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025
With very few trees on the road, they moved out into the field and plopped down under the leafy branches of a large, solitary oak tree.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
You can pace around the living room when you’re watching TV instead of plopping down on the couch.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
For solo travelers or couples, that means plopping down next to strangers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
My piece enjoyed a few seconds of airtime before tragically plopping onto the floor with an audible “splat” for everyone in the studio to hear.
From Salon ● May 25, 2025
Sleep experts often encourage people to create a wind-down period that can offer a buffer — ideally, without screens — between work and family responsibilities and plopping into bed.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 20, 2024
The doll marched across the floor, the serious expression on her face ruined by the plopping sound each of her footsteps made.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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.
