drop-off

noun

A sudden downward slope or cliff.

“There has been an unexplained drop-off in sales this quarter.”

Meanings

noundrop-off (plural drop-offs)

plural drop-offs · alternative dropoff

    1. The precipitous outer side of a coral reef, facing the open sea.
  1. A decrease; especially, a sudden one.

    There has been an unexplained drop-off in sales this quarter.

    Synonyms: falloff, step-off

  2. A delivery; the act of leaving a package, etc.

    Starting tomorrow, they'd do dropoffs and pickups instead of leaving their vehicles unguarded.

    2014, K. G. MacGregor, Anyone But You
  3. USespeciallyA space reserved outside a bus or railway station for vehicles stopping to drop off passengers for onward transit.

    Fifty car parking spaces, a drop-off point, five spaces for blue badge holders and lighting masts are all included in the plan, as is cycle parking on the station forecourt and ticket vending machines.

    2020 May 20, “Network News: Plan submitted for £18.6 million station at Soham”, in Rail, page 21

    Synonyms: set-down, setting-down

  4. A time during which passengers, such as school children, are dropped off; the event or act of dropping them off.

    These signs are friendly reminders for road users to slow down during drop-off and pick-up.

    2021 February 1, Living in Brisbane, Brisbane, page 1
  5. InternetA visitor to a website who ceases to continue using and navigating around the site after reaching some specified page; or such an act of cessation.

    We're seeing a lot of drop-offs on the shop product pages; why aren't people making purchases?

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA decrease; especially, a sudden one.

nounA space reserved outside a bus or railway station for vehicles stopping to drop off passengers for onward transit.

Similar
set-downsetting-down

More synonyms by meaning

nouna noticeable deterioration in performance or quality

Broader
deteriorationdecline in qualitydeclension

nouna steep high face of rock

Similar
Broader
geological formationformation

nouna change downward

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Finnish pudotus, pudotus
  • pudotussudden decrease
  • pudotussudden downward slope
German Abnahme, Minderung
  • Abnahmesudden decrease
  • Minderungsudden decrease
  • Rückgangsudden decrease
Polish spadek, zbocze
  • spadeksudden decrease
  • zboczesudden downward slope
Swedish stup, tvärstup
  • stupsudden downward slope
  • tvärstupsudden downward slope
Turkish azalma, gerileme
  • azalmasudden decrease
  • gerilemesudden decrease
Cite this entry
APA

drop-off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drop-off

MLA

“drop-off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drop-off. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “drop-off,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drop-off.

Source: drop-off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.