drop vs hold

drop

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

  • 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 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). 

noun
  • 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). 

  • A small amount of an alcoholic beverage. 

  • 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. 

hold

verb
  • Not to move; to halt; to stop. 

  • To detain. 

  • To take place, to occur. 

  • In a food or drink order at an informal restaurant etc., requesting that a component normally included in that order be omitted. 

  • To have and keep possession of something. 

  • To be or remain valid; to apply (usually in the third person). 

  • To contain or store. 

  • To be in possession of illicit drugs for sale. 

  • To organise an event or meeting (usually in passive voice). 

  • To accept, as an opinion; to be the adherent of, openly or privately; to persist in, as a purpose; to maintain; to sustain. 

  • To win one's own service game. 

  • To cause to wait or delay. 

  • To maintain in being or action; to carry on; to prosecute, as a course of conduct or an argument; to continue; to sustain. 

  • To bind (someone) to a consequence of his or her actions. 

  • To maintain, to consider, to opine. 

  • To grasp or grip. 

  • To reserve. 

  • To bear, carry, or manage. 

  • To keep oneself in a particular state. 

  • To remain continent; to control an excretory bodily function. 

  • Not to give way; not to part or become separated; to remain unbroken or unsubdued. 

  • To impose restraint upon; to limit in motion or action; to bind legally or morally; to confine; to restrain. 

noun
  • The property of maintaining the shape of styled hair. 

  • The part of an object one is intended to grasp, or anything one can use for grasping with hands or feet. 

  • Power over someone or something. 

  • A place where animals are held for safety 

  • An act or instance of holding. 

  • Keep a firm hold on the handlebars. 

  • A position or grip used to control the opponent. 

  • The wager amount, the total hold. 

  • A fruit machine feature allowing one or more of the reels to remain fixed while the others spin. 

  • The cargo area of a ship or aircraft (often holds or cargo hold). 

  • The ability to persist. 

  • An exercise involving holding a position for a set time 

  • An order that something is to be reserved or delayed, limiting or preventing how it can be dealt with. 

  • Something reserved or kept. 

  • A grasp or grip. 

  • The percentage the house wins on a gamble, the house or bookmaker's hold. 

  • As of Monday night the total Melbourne Cup hold was $848,015 

  • The House Hold on the game is 10,000, this is the amount of decision or risk the house wishes to assume. 

  • The queueing system on telephones and similar communication systems which maintains a connection when all lines are busy. 

  • A statistic awarded to a relief pitcher who is not still pitching at the end of the game and who records at least one out and maintains a lead for his team. 

  • An instance of holding one's service game, as opposed to being broken. 

  • A region of airspace reserved for aircraft being kept in a holding pattern. 

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