back vs drop

back

noun
  • A non-alcoholic drink (often water or a soft drink), to go with hard liquor or a cocktail. 

  • Effort, usually physical. 

  • The reverse side; the side that is not normally seen. 

  • The keel and keelson of a ship. 

  • A large shallow vat; a cistern, tub, or trough, used by brewers, distillers, dyers, picklers, gluemakers, and others, for mixing or cooling wort, holding water, hot glue, etc. 

  • The part of something that goes last. 

  • The spine and associated tissues. 

  • The backrest, the part of a piece of furniture which receives the human back. 

  • A ferryboat. 

  • The roof of a horizontal underground passage. 

  • Large and attractive buttocks. 

  • The inside margin of a page. 

  • The edge of a book which is bound. 

  • In some team sports, a position behind most players on the team. 

  • A support or resource in reserve. 

  • The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly. 

  • Among leather dealers, one of the thickest and stoutest tanned hides. 

  • Area behind, such as the backyard of a house. 

  • The side of a blade opposite the side used for cutting. 

  • The side of any object which is opposite the front or useful side. 

  • That which is farthest away from the front. 

  • The part of a piece of clothing which covers the back. 

  • Upper part of a natural object which is considered to resemble an animal's back. 

adv
  • In a direction opposite to the usual or desired direction of movement or progress, physically or figuratively. 

  • So as to reverse direction and return. 

  • Away from someone or something; at a distance. 

  • Away from the front or from an edge. 

  • In a manner that impedes. 

  • In a reciprocal manner; in return. 

  • So as shrink, recede or move aside, or cause to do so. 

  • To a later point in time. See also put back. 

  • Towards, into or in the past. 

  • To or in a previous condition or place. 

  • Earlier, ago. 

  • In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing. 

postp
  • Before now; ago. 

verb
  • To go in the reverse direction. 

  • To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power. 

  • To push or force backwards. 

  • To adjoin behind; to be at the back of. 

  • To support. 

  • To stand still behind another dog which has pointed. 

  • To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship. 

  • To change direction contrary to the normal pattern; that is, to shift anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere. 

  • To make a back for; to furnish with a back. 

  • To write upon the back of, possibly as an endorsement. 

  • To sign or endorse (a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender). 

  • To draw from behind the back [+accusative = a knife etc.] (as also back out). 

  • To row backward with (oars). 

  • To carry an infant on one's back. 

adj
  • Pronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the back of the mouth, near the soft palate (most often describing a vowel). 

  • Not current. 

  • Situated away from the main or most frequented areas. 

  • At or near the rear. 

  • Returned or restored to a previous place or condition. 

  • Moving or operating backward. 

  • In arrears; overdue. 

drop

noun
  • A small amount of an alcoholic beverage. 

  • A dropped pass. 

  • The distance that a person drops when being executed by hanging. 

  • The vertical length of a hanging curtain. 

  • A small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own round shape through surface tension, especially one that falls from a source of liquid. 

  • Only used in get the drop on, have the drop on An advantage. 

  • The distance below a cliff or other high position through which someone or something could fall; hence, a steep slope. 

  • A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything. 

  • The amount of money that a gambler exchanges for chips in a casino. 

  • Usually preceded by the: alcoholic spirits in general. 

  • A trapdoor (“hinged platform”) on a gallows; a gallows itself. 

  • A point in a song, usually electronic music such as dubstep, house, trace, or trap, where there is a very noticeable and pleasing change in bass, tempo, and/or overall tone; a climax, a highlight. 

  • An ornament resembling a pendant; a gutta. 

  • The cover mounted on a swivel over a keyhole that rests over the keyhole when not in use to keep out debris, but is swiveled out of the way before inserting the key. 

  • A fruit which has fallen off a tree, etc., or has been knocked off accidentally, rather than picked. 

  • Of women's clothes: the difference between the bust circumference and hip circumference. 

  • A mechanism for lowering something, such as a machine for lowering heavy weights on to a ship's deck, or a device for temporarily lowering a gas jet, etc. 

  • A place where items or supplies may be left for others to collect, whether openly (as with a mail drop), or secretly or illegally (as in crime or espionage); a drop-off point. 

  • The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger. 

  • An instance of making a delivery of people, supplies, or things, especially by parachute out of an aircraft (an airdrop), but also by truck, etc. 

  • A dose of liquid medicine in the form of a drop (sense 1). 

  • A decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate. 

  • A single measure of whisky. 

  • A curtain which falls in front of a theatrical stage; also, a section of (cloth) scenery lowered on to the stage like a curtain. 

  • An item made available for the player to pick up from the remains of a defeated enemy. 

  • A release (of music, a video game, etc). 

  • Often preceded by a defining word: a small, round piece of hard candy, such as a lemon drop; a lozenge. 

  • Of men's clothes: the difference between the chest circumference and waist circumference. 

  • Usually preceded by the: relegation from one division to a lower one. 

  • A liquid medicine that is intended to be administered in drops (sense 1). 

  • An act of moving downwards under the force of gravity; a descent, a fall. 

  • The depth of a (square) sail (generally applied to the courses only); the vertical dimension of a sail. 

  • Preceded by the: execution by hanging. 

verb
  • To dispose or get rid of (something); to lose, to remove. 

  • To let (something) fall; to allow (something) to fall (either by releasing hold of, or losing one's grip on). 

  • To reduce; to make smaller. 

  • To come to an end (by not being kept up); to lapse, to stop. 

  • To fall behind or to the rear of a group of people, etc., as a result of not keeping up with those at the front. 

  • To make (someone or something) fall to the ground from a blow, gunshot, etc.; to bring down, to shoot down. 

  • To pass or use (counterfeit cheques, money, etc.). 

  • To quickly lower or take down (one's trousers), especially in public. 

  • Of the testicles: to hang further away from the body and begin producing sperm due to puberty. 

  • To cook (food, especially fast food), particularly by lowering into hot oil to deep-fry, or by grilling. 

  • Of an animal (usually a sheep): to give birth to (young); of a bird: to lay (an egg). 

  • To impart (something). 

  • To cease concerning oneself over (someone or something); to have nothing more to do with (a discussion, subject, etc.). 

  • To perform (rap music). 

  • Usually followed by by, in, or into: of a person: to visit someone or somewhere informally or without a prior appointment. 

  • Of a programme, software, a music album or song, etc.: to enter public distribution. 

  • To play (a portion of music) in the manner of a disc jockey. 

  • Of a liquid: to fall in drops or droplets. 

  • To drop out of the betting. 

  • To collapse in exhaustion or injury; also, to fall dead, or to fall in death. 

  • To fall or sink quickly or suddenly to the ground. 

  • Of a voice: to lower in timbre, often due to puberty. 

  • To fall (straight down) under the influence of gravity, like a drop of liquid. 

  • Of a song or sound: to lower in key, pitch, tempo, or other quality. 

  • To move to a lower position; to allow to hang downwards; to lower. 

  • To let (a letter, etc.) fall into a postbox; hence, to send (a letter, email, or other message) in an offhand manner. 

  • To drip (a liquid) in drops or small amounts. 

  • To set down (someone or something) from a vehicle; to stop and deliver or deposit (someone or something); to drop off. 

  • To cease to include (something), as if on a list; to dismiss, to eject, to expel. 

  • To (unexpectedly) lose (a competition, game, etc.). 

  • To fail to write, or (especially) to pronounce (a syllable, letter, etc.). 

  • To lower (a sound, a voice, etc.) in pitch or volume. 

  • To fall into a particular condition or state. 

  • To tune (a guitar string, etc.) to a lower note. 

  • To present the user with a more basic interface. 

  • To release (a programme, software, a music album or song, etc.) to the public. 

  • To lose, spend, or otherwise part with (money). 

  • To score (a goal) by means of a drop kick. 

  • To mention (something) casually or incidentally, usually in conversation. 

  • To enter a more basic interface. 

  • To decrease, diminish, or lessen in condition, degree, value, etc. 

  • Especially in drop acid: to swallow (a drug, particularly LSD). 

  • Of a fielder: to fail to dismiss (a batsman) by accidentally dropping a batted ball that had initially been caught. 

  • To cancel or cease to participate in (a scheduled course, event, or project). 

How often have the words back and drop occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )