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.
-
to fall with such a sound.
Big raindrops plopped against the window.
-
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.
-
to cause to plop.
The fisherman plopped the bait into the river.
noun
-
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
-
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:
But since they’re immortal, they can simply reattach their own limbs and plop their heads back in place.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
“You don’t take somebody from the industrials world and plop them in a media company,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
In order to sit next to a stranger, I’d have to eschew vast stretches of empty stools and plop down right beside them like a creep, hitting on unsuspecting old people.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2025
They can often be identified from the distinctive plop sound they make when they dive into the water.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2024
I expect something warm and wiggly and furry to plop into my arms.
From "Shiloh" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
If, say, a housing development plops down where you live, you are forced to wander.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
The way the leech plops onto the forest floor in the 2017 video, with very little obvious control of its landing, seems to be common among these creatures.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
Joy plops down a chicken sandwich food truck, with plans to add a brick-and-mortar restaurant at the corner of 11th Avenue and East Pine Street in the fall.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
Brosnahan: There’s a direction that says “Midge plops on the couch.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
“Your aura is extremely purple,” says Elsie as she plops down at my table.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
The ball bounced off the opposing outfielder’s glove and plopped over the wall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig laughed together by the entrance while Samuel L. Jackson plopped down on a curved bench, joking, “Hey, look what I did!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
Her son Victor, 11, plopped onto the sidewalk to read his Imagination Library edition of "Llama Llama Red Pajama," a family favorite.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
“Things are being plopped down,” said Birnbaum, whose organization sued the administration over the repainting of the Reflecting Pool.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
A few months ago, she would have plopped down next to me as if she lived here.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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
Instead of plopping us into an eternity in media res, with its own rules and regulations already in place, Freyne introduces something novel to this process: a choice.
From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2025
For solo travelers or couples, that means plopping down next to strangers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
“I remember this smell,” he says, plopping down on a ratty sofa beneath a faded oil painting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
“The lunch area was my idea,” Carlos said, plopping himself onto a bench.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
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.
