< Back to Phrase of the Day

To Drop Out


'To Drop Out 'means to stop attending, usually from school

Example of use: "Maurice had to drop out of school when his mother became ill, so that he could help take care of her."

 


Interesting fact about To Drop Out

Dropa is the Old English word for drop, and it literally means “a drop of liquid.” The word “drop” used to describe the act of dropping something came into use in the 1630s, but the phrase “drop out” was first recorded in the 1550s. The idiom “ drop out” or “dropout” when referring to a person’s failure to continue attending school is believed to have been coined in America sometime between 1925 and 1930.