drop dead

present singular third person drops dead · participle present dropping dead · participle past dropped dead · past dropped dead

1. intransitiveTo die suddenly.

   Stuff your eyes with wonder […]live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.

   1953, Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

   1 more example

   Boy, I'm in a bad mood today! Everyone had better steer clear of me! I hate everybody! As far as I'm concerned, everyone on the planet can just drop dead. People are scum.

   1988 November 23, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

2. figurativelyintransitiveTo be appalled or mortified.

   `My parents would drop dead if they knew,' she said.

   1965, James Holledge, What Makes a Call Girl?, London: Horwitz Publications, page 90

1. derogatoryoffensiveslangUsed angrily to express disgust, contempt, derision, etc., toward another person.

   [to Kramer] Are you dense? I said I wanted you to drop dead. Now... drop dead! [slams the door in Kramer's face]

   1997, Peter Mehlman, David Mandel, “The Betrayal”, in Seinfeld, season 9, episode 8, spoken by Franklin Delano Romanowski (Michael McShane)

   1 more example

   “Whatta ya say, goils? I'll take the botha ya, only later, like, well, you know, like later onea ya can split and go home.”[…]“Drop dead,” Rachel said with a smile.

   1967, Trudy Baker, Rachel Jones, Donald Bain (uncredited), Coffee, Tea, or Me?: The Uninhibited Memoirs of Two Airline Stewardesses, New York: Bantam Books, pages 7–8

1. alternativenot comparableAlternative form of drop-dead.

   Let's suppose your personality was only a manifestation of the id and you saw a drop dead gorgeous man that really tripped your trigger. Spurred on by your id, you would run up to him and immediately engage him in a sexual encounter.

   1992, Gigi Moers, How and Why Lovers Cheat: And What You Can Do about It, page 96