I. drip 1 /drɪp/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle dripped , present participle dripping )
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: dryppan ; related to drop ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to let liquid fall in drops:
The tap’s dripping.
Her boots were muddy and her hair was dripping.
drip blood/water/sweat etc
John came in, his arm dripping blood.
be dripping with blood/sweat etc
The hand that held the gun was dripping with sweat.
2 . [intransitive] to fall in drops
drip down/from etc
The rain dripped down his neck.
Water was dripping through the ceiling.
3 . be dripping with something to contain or be covered in a lot of something
be dripping with jewels/gems/pearls etc
All the princes were dripping with gems.
His tone was now dripping with sarcasm.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ flow if liquid flows, it moves in a steady continuous stream:
Blood flowed from his hand.
|
The river flows very quickly at this point.
▪ run to flow – used when saying that something flows in a particular direction:
Water was running down the walls of the room.
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Sweat ran off his nose.
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The river runs into the sea.
▪ come out to flow out of something:
You couldn't drink any of the water that came out of the tap.
▪ pour to flow in large quantities:
The rain poured down.
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Blood was pouring from a wound on his head.
▪ gush to flow out quickly in very large quantities:
Water was gushing out at more than 3000 gallons a minute.
▪ spurt to flow out suddenly with a lot of force:
Oil was spurting from a small hole in the pipe.
▪ trickle to flow slowly in drops or in a thin stream:
Clare felt sweat trickling down the back of her neck.
▪ leak to flow in or out through a small hole or crack, usually when this is not meant to happen:
Oil was leaking from the engine.
▪ ooze to flow from something very slowly – used about blood or a thick liquid:
Blood was oozing from the wound.
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Jam oozed out as she bit into the cake.
▪ drip to fall in drops:
Water dripped from the tap continuously.
▪ cascade to flow down the side of something in large amounts:
Water cascades down the hilllside.
II. drip 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . [countable] one of the drops of liquid that fall from something:
I put some plastic buckets on the floor to catch the drips.
2 . [singular, uncountable] the sound or action of a liquid falling in drops:
The silence was broken only by a regular drip, drip, drip.
3 . [countable] a piece of equipment used in hospitals for putting liquids directly into your blood through a tube SYN IV
be/put somebody on a drip
At the hospital they put me on a drip.
4 . [countable] informal someone who is boring and weak