Word.ws English Dictionary

dropping a clanger

dropping a clanger is the present participle and gerund of drop a clanger.

Meaning of drop a clanger

Verb

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

  1. (informal) To commit a conspicuous and embarrassing blunder or gaffe, for example by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
    • I dropped a clanger when I mentioned how well Mary's mother had been looking recently. I didn't know that she died two days ago.

Questions about dropping a clanger

What is dropping a clanger the present participle and gerund of?
Dropping a clanger is the present participle and gerund of drop a clanger.

Words near dropping a clanger in the dictionary

  1. dropping
  2. dropping a bollock
  3. dropping a bomb
  4. dropping a bombshell
  5. dropping a brick
  6. dropping a clanger
  7. dropping a dime
  8. dropping a dime on someone
  9. dropping a hint
  10. dropping a log
  11. dropping acid

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dropping a clanger (page history and authors); drop a clanger (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.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “dropping a clanger.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dropping_a_clanger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.