Word.ws English Dictionary

drop a dime on someone

drop a dime on someone verb: to inform on (a person); to turn someone in.

Verb

drop a dime on someone (third-person singular simple present drops a dime on someone, present participle dropping a dime on someone, simple past and past participle dropped a dime on someone)

  1. (slang) To inform on (a person); to turn someone in.
    • It seems somebody has dropped a dime on you guys, and there is nothing more I can do.1992, “Pinkerton's Inc. and Charles F. Keller”, in Decisions and Orders of the National Labor Relations Board, volume 295, page 540
    Synonyms:
    inform, grass up, snitch

Synonyms of drop a dime on someone

Forms of drop a dime on someone

third-person singular presentdrops a dime on someone
present participledropping a dime on someone
past participledropped a dime on someone
pastdropped a dime on someone

Origin of drop a dime on someone

Referring to the cost of making a phone call, i.e. to the police.

Questions about drop a dime on someone

What does drop a dime on someone mean?
Drop a dime on someone means to inform on (a person); to turn someone in.
What part of speech is drop a dime on someone?
Drop a dime on someone is a verb.
What is the past tense of drop a dime on someone?
The past tense of drop a dime on someone is dropped a dime on someone.

Words near drop a dime on someone in the dictionary

  1. drop a brick
  2. drop a chalupa
  3. drop a clanger
  4. drop a deuce
  5. drop a dime
  6. drop a dime on someone
  7. drop a hint
  8. drop a load
  9. drop a log
  10. drop a nickel
  11. drop acid

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: drop a dime on someone (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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