Idiom
wait for the ball to drop
Meaning
To wait in expectation of an occurrence.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“We wait for the ball to drop at the New Year party.”
“The crowd stood in the cold square, waiting for the ball to drop to celebrate the start of the year.”
“As the final seconds of December ticked away, the gathered thousands held their breath, waiting for the ball to drop and signal the arrival of a new era.”
Examples
simple
“We wait for the ball to drop at the New Year party.”
contextual
“The crowd stood in the cold square, waiting for the ball to drop to celebrate the start of the year.”
complex
“As the final seconds of December ticked away, the gathered thousands held their breath, waiting for the ball to drop and signal the arrival of a new era.”
Origin
An allusion to the Times Square Ball, and perhaps other time balls.
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated