1 A2 neutral
To enter a shop, café, building, or other place briefly and informally.
"On the way home I dropped into the chemist's to pick up some aspirin."
inseparable
drop into
B1 neutral inseparable transitive
To enter a place briefly and informally, or to fall into a state or habit without much conscious effort.
In plain English
Stop at a place quickly, or start doing something (like speaking with an accent) almost without noticing.
What does "drop into" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B2 idiomatic neutral
To slip naturally and without much effort into a habit, style, state, or way of speaking.
"After a week back home, she found herself dropping into her old regional accent."
inseparable
3 B2 idiomatic informal
To introduce a word, phrase, or remark into a conversation casually.
"He managed to drop a reference to his Ivy League education into every conversation."
inseparable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To fall or move into the interior of something.
Actually means
Stop at a place quickly, or start doing something (like speaking with an accent) almost without noticing.
Usage tip
The sense of entering a place casually is very common in everyday usage. The sense of slipping into a habit, accent, or state is more figurative and common in literary or thoughtful registers.
Words that pair with "drop into"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
shop café conversation habit routine dialect silence
How to conjugate "drop into"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
drop into
I/you/we/they
3rd person
drops into
he/she/it
Past simple
droped into
yesterday
Past participle
droped into
have + pp
-ing form
droping into
continuous
Hear "drop into" in the wild
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Other ways to say "drop into"
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Keep exploring
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