Middle English Dictionary Entry

drōpe n.(1)
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Entry Info

Forms drōpe n.(1) Also droupe, (early acc. sg.) dropan, (N) droipe & droppe, drop. Pl. drōpes, droppes & drōpen.
Etymology OE dropa, pl. dropan. Late ME droppe is modeled on droppen v.

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1a.
(a) A drop of liquid; ~ of blod (deue, rein, water, win, etc.); deues ~, reines ~, etc.; a drop of medicine; (b) on (a, an) ~, a single drop; no ~, not a ~, nought on (o) ~, never ~, not a single drop, never a drop; (c) in proverbs, etc. [see M. P. Tilley Dict.of Proverbs 174]; (d) fig. a small amount (of pity, etc.), the least possible amount.
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1b.
(a) A drop of water from a spring; (b) a raindrop; (c) a dewdrop; (d) a tear; (e) a drop of sweat; (f) a drop of blood; (g) a drop of gum, resin, or dried sap.
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1c.
A pendant jewel (probably of metal) [= OED drop n., sense 10(a)]; ?also, a drop-shaped pattern of surface ornament.
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2.
(a) The dripping of a liquid; a shower; also fig.; ~ falling, a shower; (b) a nasal flux, catarrh.
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3.
(a) A spot, speck; (b) a blemish; (c) a spot on a figured cloth (representing a tear) [see Du Cange gutta 6]; (d) med. a disease characterized by spots, ?gout; cler ~, amaurosis; red ~, a disease causing red spots on the skin, acne rosacea.
Show 9 Quotations

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. drop.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(d)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. clear drop.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 3.(d)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. red drop.

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