drop a dime
"drop-a-dime" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“drop a dime” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To make a telephone call.
Corpus desk
Index EN-drop-a-dime · drop a dime · English
drop a dime · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | drop a dime |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “drop a dime” in English
Rare enough to double-check
drop a dime is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for drop a dime, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: See dime § Etymology 2 The correct English form is drop a dime, spelled D-R-O-P- -A- -D-I-M-E.
Definition
- 1To make a telephone call.
- 2To inform, to call the authorities (on).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how drop a dime appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonyms: give [someone] up, give [someone] away; spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag
He was in the back for a few minutes. Turned out he was dropping a dime on Ralph.
Etymology
See dime § Etymology 2
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.