drop-off

See also: dropoff and drop off

English

Noun

drop-off (plural drop-offs)

1. A sudden downward slope.
   1. The precipitous outer side of a coral reef, facing the open sea.
2. A sudden decrease.

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

3. A delivery; the act of leaving a package, etc.
   • 2014, K. G. MacGregor, Anyone But You:

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

4. (especially US) A space reserved outside a bus or railway station for vehicles stopping to drop off passengers for onward transit.
   • 2020 May 20, “Network News: Plan submitted for £18.6 million station at Soham”, in Rail, page 21:

     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.

5. A time during which passengers, such as school children, are dropped off.
   • 2021 February 1, Living in Brisbane, Brisbane, page 1:

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

6. (Internet) A 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

• (space for passenger alighting): set-down, setting-down

Related terms

• drop off

Translations

sudden downward slope

• Alemannic German: Felli f
• Finnish: pudotus (fi)
• Galician: caída (gl) f, noiro (gl) m, terraplén m

sudden decrease

• Finnish: pudotus (fi)
• German: Abnahme (de) f, Minderung (de) f, Rückgang (de) m
• Turkish: azalma (tr), gerileme (tr)