Idiom
drop a dime
Meaning
To make a telephone call.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“I will drop a dime to my friend later today.”
“Please drop a dime to the doctor if your fever gets worse.”
“I always drop a dime to my grandmother on her birthday.”
“If you need any help with the project, just drop a dime to the office and ask for me.”
“Whenever you feel lonely while traveling abroad, you should drop a dime to your parents to hear a familiar voice.”
“The manager asked the team to drop a dime to the client before the meeting starts to confirm the time.”
“The detective waited in the shadows, hoping the informant would finally drop a dime regarding the suspect's location.”
Examples
simple
“I will drop a dime to my friend later today.”
“Please drop a dime to the doctor if your fever gets worse.”
“I always drop a dime to my grandmother on her birthday.”
contextual
“If you need any help with the project, just drop a dime to the office and ask for me.”
“Whenever you feel lonely while traveling abroad, you should drop a dime to your parents to hear a familiar voice.”
“The manager asked the team to drop a dime to the client before the meeting starts to confirm the time.”
complex
“The detective waited in the shadows, hoping the informant would finally drop a dime regarding the suspect's location.”
Origin
The expression originates from the mid-20th-century American practice of using a ten-cent coin to operate a public telephone. To drop a dime was to insert the necessary currency into a payphone to contact the police and provide information regarding a third party's illicit activities. The phrase persists as a synonym for informing on an associate, though the required coinage and the booths themselves have largely been retired from service.
Key words
Related idioms
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