Word.ws English Dictionary

dropped like flies

dropped like flies is the simple past and past participle of drop like flies.

Meaning of drop like flies

Verb

drop like flies (third-person singular simple present drops like flies, present participle dropping like flies, simple past and past participle dropped like flies)

  1. (simile, especially soldiers) To die en masse, one after the other.
    • Seymour: Audrey, quick! We've got to do an emergency [flower] arrangement.
      […]
      Mr. Mushnik: The Shivas are our most important funereal account. A big, enormous family, they're dropping off like flies!1986, Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)

Questions about dropped like flies

What is dropped like flies the simple past and past participle of?
Dropped like flies is the simple past and past participle of drop like flies.

Words near dropped like flies in the dictionary

  1. dropped kerbs
  2. dropped like a bad habit
  3. dropped like a hot brick
  4. dropped like a hot potato
  5. dropped like a hot skillet
  6. dropped like flies
  7. dropped neck
  8. dropped off
  9. dropped off the hooks
  10. dropped off the map
  11. dropped off the radar

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dropped like flies (page history and authors); drop like flies (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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