airdrop
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the act of dropping food, medicine, or equipment from a plane using a parachute.
n.the delivery of supplies, equipment, or personnel by dropping them from an aircraft in flight, typically using parachutes.
Simple“The military organized an airdrop to bring food to the people trapped by the flood.”
In context“Following the earthquake, the relief agency coordinated a massive airdrop of medical supplies to the remote mountain villages where roads were blocked.”
Synonymsaerial deliverysupply drop - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to drop supplies or people from a plane.
v.to deliver goods or personnel via aerial drop from an aircraft.
Simple“The pilots had to airdrop the crates because there was no place to land.”
In context“The logistics team decided to airdrop the heavy machinery directly into the clearing to save time on ground transport.”
UsageOften used as a transitive verb taking a direct object.
- 03 B1 Intermediate
v.to send a photo or file from one phone or computer to another using a wireless connection.
v.to transfer data between devices using a proprietary close-range wireless protocol, specifically Apple's AirDrop.
Simple“Can you airdrop that photo of the sunset to my phone?”
In context“She asked her colleague to airdrop the presentation slides so she could review them on her tablet during the flight.”
Teacher's tipWhile technically a brand name, it is commonly used as a lowercase verb in casual conversation.
- 04 C1 Advanced
n.a way of giving away free digital money (tokens) to many people at once to promote a new project.
n.the unsolicited distribution of a cryptocurrency token or coin, usually for free, to numerous wallet addresses to encourage adoption.
Simple“I received some free tokens in a recent airdrop from a new tech company.”
In context“The startup announced an airdrop to reward early adopters and increase the liquidity of their new digital asset.”
Synonyms
Borrowed from the military airdrop — supplies dropped from an aircraft — reused for tokens dropped into users' wallets.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.