Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

drop a dime

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.64 in modern English

Syllables: drop a dime
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

1

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To make a telephone call.

Slang

verb

To inform, to call the authorities (on).

Slang

Example Sentences

"Near-synonyms: give [someone] up, give [someone] away; spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag"
"He was in the back for a few minutes. Turned out he was dropping a dime on Ralph."
"We got a crowd of black, white customers, out-of-state license plates, what have you. Somebody gonna check that out. They gonna drop a dime on me, call 911. And you know with my jacket I can't go back to jail."
"Who dropped a dime to that newspaper reporter, Your Honor?"

Etymology

See dime § Etymology 2

Usage

Slang

Inflected Forms

drops a dime (present, singular) dropping a dime (participle, present) dropped a dime (participle, past) dropped a dime (past) drop a nickel (alternative)

Phrases

dime dropper

Frequently Paired Words

dime dropper

Synonyms

dime snitch rat out grass up bewray blow the whistle clepe denounce dime out dob drop a dime drop a dime on someone

Questions

What does drop a dime mean?: To make a telephone call.
Where does drop a dime come from?: See dime § Etymology 2

How to pronounce drop a dime

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