drop off

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"drop-off" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“drop off” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To fall asleep.

Key facts for drop off
PropertyValue
Headworddrop off
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “drop off” sits in English frequency

drop off falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for drop off is 8 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for drop off, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is drop off, spelled D-R-O-P- -O-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    To fall asleep.
  2. 2
    To deliver; to deposit or leave; to allow passengers to alight.
  3. 3
    To fall off:
  4. 4
    To fall off:
  5. 5
    To end a connection with a telephone queue, either by hanging up or after being served or processed.
  6. 6
    To lessen or reduce.
  7. 7
    To die.
  8. 8
    To abandon or give up on (something); to be abandoned or given up on.

This word in other languages

dormirse(Español)s’endormir(Français)wegtreten(Deutsch)entregar(Português)

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "drop off"?
"drop off" is spelled D-R-O-P- -O-F-F.
What does "drop off" mean?
As a verb, "drop off" means: To fall asleep.
What language does "drop off" come from?
"drop off" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “drop off”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is D-R-O-P- -O-F-F - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list