1 A2 neutral
To deliver a person or thing to a place by car and then drive away.
"I'll drop the kids off at school on my way to work."
separable
drop off
A2 neutral separable transitive/intransitive
To deliver a person or thing to a place by vehicle; to fall asleep; or to decrease in amount or quality.
In plain English
Take someone somewhere in your car and leave them there; fall asleep without meaning to; or become less.
What does "drop off" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 A2 idiomatic informal
To fall asleep, especially without intending to.
"He dropped off in front of the TV and woke up at midnight."
inseparable
3 B1 idiomatic neutral
To decrease in amount, level, or quality.
"Website traffic tends to drop off significantly during the holiday season."
inseparable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To fall or be released from a surface.
Actually means
Take someone somewhere in your car and leave them there; fall asleep without meaning to; or become less.
Usage tip
One of the most versatile and frequently used phrasal verbs. The delivery sense is extremely common. The 'falling asleep' sense is informal and very widely used. The 'decrease' sense is common in business language.
Words that pair with "drop off"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
kids school parcel dry cleaning sleep sales attendance
How to conjugate "drop off"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
drop off
I/you/we/they
3rd person
drops off
he/she/it
Past simple
droped off
yesterday
Past participle
droped off
have + pp
-ing form
droping off
continuous
Hear "drop off" in the wild
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Other ways to say "drop off"
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