h-dropping

h-dropping noun: the omission of an /h/ sound normally present in a word, making the word "home" sound like "'ome", for example.

Noun

h-dropping

The omission of an /h/ sound normally present in a word, making the word "home" sound like "'ome", for example.

Synonyms:

mute h, silent h, unaspirated h

h-dropping (not comparable)

Undergoing h-dropping.
- More local than us, apparently; I find out that Janet complains that ‘John’s from Herefordshire but he’s not real Herefordshire.’ […] But if I’m honest, I know what she means: I don’t have an h-dropping local accent and speak instead in a detached RP rumble.2009 May 21, John Lewis-Stempel, “Beginnings”, in The Wild Life: A Year of Living on Wild Food, London: Black Swan, published 18 March 2010, →ISBN, pages 12–13
- In England, the most up-to-date research suggests that some 13th-century dialects were h-dropping, but by the time elocution experts came along in the 18th century, they were pointing out what a crime it is.2013 November 4, Michael Rosen, “Why H is the most contentious letter in the alphabet”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...

alternative form	aitch-dropping

What does h-dropping mean?: H-dropping means the omission of an /h/ sound normally present in a word, making the word "home" sound like "'ome", for example.
What part of speech is h-dropping?: H-dropping can be a noun or an adjective.

Adapted from Wiktionary: h-dropping (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: 2026-09-02

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