Word.ws English Dictionary

dropping one's beads

dropping one's beads is the present participle and gerund of drop one's beads.

Meaning of drop one's beads

Verb

drop one's beads (third-person singular simple present drops one's beads, present participle dropping one's beads, simple past and past participle dropped one's beads)

  1. (slang) To reveal one's homosexuality.
    • But they will “drop their beads” (as queens used to say) one by one, until the full necklace lies on the floor. He'll mention he likes the ballet, you'll tell him of your interest in opera.1977, Charles Silverstein, Edmund White, The Joy of Gay Sex, New York: Crown Publishers, →ISBN, page 124

Questions about dropping one's beads

What is dropping one's beads the present participle and gerund of?
Dropping one's beads is the present participle and gerund of drop one's beads.

Words near dropping one's beads in the dictionary

  1. dropping neck
  2. dropping off
  3. dropping off the hooks
  4. dropping off the map
  5. dropping off the radar
  6. dropping one's beads
  7. dropping one's bundle
  8. dropping one's guard
  9. dropping out
  10. dropping point
  11. dropping points

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dropping one's beads (page history and authors); drop one's beads (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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