drop away

British

verb

(intr, adverb) to fall or go away gradually

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"I got it wrong. I felt that was where we were," he told MPs, adding that "things drop away" over Christmas and New Year, but work was now under way "in earnest".

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026

Moreover, emotional well-being tends to increase in old age, as personal ambitions drop away and we allow ourselves the time to just be.

From Salon • Nov. 27, 2023

But in other, key sequences, she lets the flourishes drop away.

From Slate • Jun. 28, 2021

But old habits of presenting yourself don’t drop away overnight.

From Washington Post • Feb. 20, 2020

"Those who are dissatisfied will drop away and those who remain you'll teach . . ." "I don't think I can," I said.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023