"drop a brick" meaning in All languages combined

See drop a brick on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: en-au-drop a brick.ogg Forms: drops a brick [present, singular, third-person], dropping a brick [participle, present], dropped a brick [participle, past], dropped a brick [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} drop a brick (third-person singular simple present drops a brick, present participle dropping a brick, simple past and past participle dropped a brick)
  1. (UK, idiomatic) To commit a faux pas, especially in speech, such as by tactlessly speaking of a subject that should not be mentioned. Tags: UK, idiomatic
    Sense id: en-drop_a_brick-en-verb-VTr9OPuW Categories (other): British English
  2. (US, idiomatic) Alternative form of drop a bombshell Tags: US, alt-of, alternative, idiomatic Alternative form of: drop a bombshell Categories (topical): Bricks
    Sense id: en-drop_a_brick-en-verb-DSheHmGY Disambiguation of Bricks: 22 70 8 Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 23 75 3 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 20 76 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 18 79 3
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see drop, brick.
    Sense id: en-drop_a_brick-en-verb-tYrhMnAs
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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "drops a brick",
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    {
      "form": "dropping a brick",
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    {
      "form": "dropped a brick",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
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          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1978, Ambroise Vollard, translated by Violet M. MacDonald, Recollections of a Picture Dealer, Dover Publications, published 2003, page 28:",
          "text": "It was on one of those Tuesdays that I dropped a brick, the memory of which still haunts me after more than forty years. A very loquacious lady, whom I had never seen before, appeared to be talking through her nose. “Don't you think,” I said to one of my neighbours, by way of starting conversation, “that lady would be well advised to sound her trumpet less often?”\n“You bet I do! I've not been able to get used to it these thirty years.”\nAnd as I stared at him, horror-struck:\n“Yes. I'm her husband.”",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Harry Brewster, A Cosmopolite's Journey: Episodes from a Life, page 216:",
          "text": "I remember dropping a brick when I first met her. As she at once started calling me 'Harry' in the way Americans are apt to do, the surname becoming immediately superfluous. I ventured to ask her what her Christian name was.\n‘I'm not a Christian, Harry.’",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To commit a faux pas, especially in speech, such as by tactlessly speaking of a subject that should not be mentioned."
      ],
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        "(UK, idiomatic) To commit a faux pas, especially in speech, such as by tactlessly speaking of a subject that should not be mentioned."
      ],
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        "UK",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
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      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "drop a bombshell"
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          "kind": "other",
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          "kind": "topical",
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          "name": "Bricks",
          "orig": "en:Bricks",
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            "Building materials",
            "Construction",
            "Materials",
            "Architecture",
            "Engineering",
            "Manufacturing",
            "Applied sciences",
            "Art",
            "Technology",
            "Human activity",
            "Sciences",
            "Culture",
            "All topics",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Society",
            "Fundamental",
            "Human"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of drop a bombshell"
      ],
      "id": "en-drop_a_brick-en-verb-DSheHmGY",
      "links": [
        [
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic) Alternative form of drop a bombshell"
      ],
      "tags": [
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      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The clumsy builder dropped a brick on his toe.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see drop, brick."
      ],
      "id": "en-drop_a_brick-en-verb-tYrhMnAs",
      "links": [
        [
          "drop",
          "drop#English"
        ],
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          "brick",
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        ]
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  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "en-au-drop a brick.ogg",
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      "form": "dropped a brick",
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      "form": "dropped a brick",
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      "name": "en-verb"
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  "lang_code": "en",
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        {
          "ref": "1978, Ambroise Vollard, translated by Violet M. MacDonald, Recollections of a Picture Dealer, Dover Publications, published 2003, page 28:",
          "text": "It was on one of those Tuesdays that I dropped a brick, the memory of which still haunts me after more than forty years. A very loquacious lady, whom I had never seen before, appeared to be talking through her nose. “Don't you think,” I said to one of my neighbours, by way of starting conversation, “that lady would be well advised to sound her trumpet less often?”\n“You bet I do! I've not been able to get used to it these thirty years.”\nAnd as I stared at him, horror-struck:\n“Yes. I'm her husband.”",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998, Harry Brewster, A Cosmopolite's Journey: Episodes from a Life, page 216:",
          "text": "I remember dropping a brick when I first met her. As she at once started calling me 'Harry' in the way Americans are apt to do, the surname becoming immediately superfluous. I ventured to ask her what her Christian name was.\n‘I'm not a Christian, Harry.’",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To commit a faux pas, especially in speech, such as by tactlessly speaking of a subject that should not be mentioned."
      ],
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          "faux pas"
        ],
        [
          "speech",
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          "tactlessly",
          "tactlessly"
        ]
      ],
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        "(UK, idiomatic) To commit a faux pas, especially in speech, such as by tactlessly speaking of a subject that should not be mentioned."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
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          "word": "drop a bombshell"
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        "Alternative form of drop a bombshell"
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        "(US, idiomatic) Alternative form of drop a bombshell"
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        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see drop, brick."
      ],
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      "audio": "en-au-drop a brick.ogg",
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}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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