I. ˈdrüp verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English drupen, droupen, from Old Norse drūpa; akin to Old English dropian to drop, drip, Middle Low German drūpen to drip, Old Norse drjūpa — more at drop
intransitive verb
1. : to have or assume a slouched or bent posture (as from exhaustion or grief) : hang, bend, or incline downward
a tree that droops gracefully as if inviting to its shade — H.A.Overstreet
his heavy eyelids drooped — Kenneth Roberts
2. : to fall, sink, or go down
droops the soaring youth with slackened wing — S.T.Coleridge
as night drew near the crimson sun drooped slowly in the west
3.
a. : to become depressed : decline in spirit or courage
let not your spirits droop too low when the decision is adverse — B.N.Cardozo
b.
(1) : to lack strength or energy : pine away : languish
who droops far off on a sick bed — S.T.Coleridge
(2) : to show signs of exhaustion : flag
her thoughts drooped with fatigue — Ellen Glasgow
transitive verb
: to let droop or sink
the bird drooped his wings
Synonyms:
wilt , flag , sag : droop may indicate either a literal or a figurative hanging or bending downward through exhaustion after a period of thriving or flourishing
he shrank, drooped, sank heavily into his chair, and once more his face folded into its lines of despair — G.W.Brace
“He knows it”, the trainer said to himself with a drooping of the heart — Donn Byrne
wilt often applies to the loss of freshness and firmness of flowers and leaf or stalk vegetables deprived of water; it is often used of enervation, discouragement, and loss of spirit, force, and resolution
flowers wilting in the sun
I fear it's a feeble and sickly patriotism that wilts before such dreadful hardships — Kenneth Roberts
flag indicates a dwindling into forcelessness or vacuity of interest or energy
for a couple of hours he wrote with energy, and then his energy flagged — H.G.Wells
these devices succeed, every time, in stimulating our interest afresh just at the moment when it was about to flag — T.S.Eliot
to keep him up to his duties when he showed signs of flagging, he was made much of by his superiors and told what a fine fellow he was — Rudyard Kipling
sag may indicate a sinking out of line at one point; more figuratively it indicates a drooping or decline accompanying loss of strength, determination, spirit, resiliency, or power
the sagging floor of the old house
in places the rail level may sag out of true — O.S.Nock
his heart sagged with disappointment — Van Wyck Mason
stared out of the window, his face sagging once more — Gertrude Atherton
II. noun
( -s )
1. : downward deflection
the droop of a gun
: the condition or appearance of drooping
her figure had a listless droop — A.J.Cronin
2. : a downward drift in the value of a variable quantity or in the indication of a measuring instrument