dropful

English

Etymology

From drop +‎ -ful.

Noun

dropful (plural dropfuls or dropsful)

1. A single drop (of a liquid).
   • 1902, Sir Walter Scott. v.23-24. Percy Bysshe Shelley, page 747:

     When the good skipper and his careful crew Have had their latest earthly draught of brine, And gone to quench, or to endure their thirst, Where nectar's plenty, or even water's scarce, And filter'd to the parched crew by dropsful.

   • 1984, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, My transportation for life, page 553:

     But my brother was dying inch by inch, having suffered and toiled and wasted himself for others, and there was none beside him at the last hour to put an affectionate dropful of water in his mouth.

   • 1995, Susan Miller Cavitch, The Natural Soap Book: Making Herbal and Vegetable-Based Soaps:

     When I first learned to make soap, the 12-pound recipe I found called for only a few dropfuls of essential oil.

Anagrams

• Pulford