Word.ws English Dictionary

dropping like flies

dropping like flies is the present participle and gerund 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 dropping like flies

What is dropping like flies the present participle and gerund of?
Dropping like flies is the present participle and gerund of drop like flies.

Words near dropping like flies in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dropping 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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