Droop

Pronunciation

• enPR: drÅ«p, IPA: /ˈdɹuːp/
• Rhymes: -uːp
• Homophones: drupe

Origin

From Middle English droupen, from Old Norse drúpa.

Full definition of droop

Verb

1. (intransitive) To sink or hang downward; to sag.
• Sylvester StalloneI'm not handsome in the classical sense. The eyes droop, the mouth is crooked, the teeth aren't straight, the voice sounds like a Mafioso pallbearer, but somehow it all works.
• 1907, w, The Younger Set Chapter 3, Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped ; … .
2. (intransitive) To slowly become limp; to bend gradually.
3. (intransitive) To lose all enthusiasm or happiness.
• Jonathan SwiftI saw him ten days before he died, and observed he began very much to droop and languish.
• AddisonI'll animate the soldier's drooping courage.
4. (transitive) To allow to droop or sink.
• ShakespeareLike to a withered vine
  That droops his sapless branches to the ground.
5. To proceed downward, or toward a close; to decline.
• Tennysonwhen day drooped

Noun

1. something which is limp or sagging; a condition or posture of droopingHe walked with a discouraged droop.

Related terms

• drooped
• drooping
• droopy

Derived terms

• brewer's droop