"a short drop and a sudden stop" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Popular due to the internal rhyme of drop with stop.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "a short drop and a sudden stop",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English coordinated pairs",
          "parents": [
            "Coordinated pairs",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Capital punishment",
          "orig": "en:Capital punishment",
          "parents": [
            "Criminal law",
            "Death",
            "Law",
            "Body",
            "Life",
            "Justice",
            "All topics",
            "Nature",
            "Society",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Death",
          "orig": "en:Death",
          "parents": [
            "Body",
            "Life",
            "All topics",
            "Nature",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1923, Austin B Griffin, Reports of Cases Heard and Determined in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, volume 203, page 885:",
          "text": "I see, in other words, a short drop and then a sudden stop?",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl:",
          "text": "I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets what he deserves: A short drop and a sudden stop.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005 January 8, “Bookman”, alt.fan.heinlein (Google group): Clarke Survives Tsunamis",
          "text": "> But, yeah, the death penalty is a little stiff just for pretentious writing.\n> Punning now… it’d be a capital idea, there.\nLet’s not start _that_ row. Give it a quick drop and a sudden stop, rather than letting them hang…"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 Hirchak, John Hirchak. Ghosts of Old Wilmington, page 27 (The History Press; →ISBN)",
          "text": "If you were lucky enough to survive all this lunacy, you always risked capture. There your story would end with a quick drop and a sudden stop, for piracy was punishable by hanging."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fall to one's death by hanging."
      ],
      "id": "en-a_short_drop_and_a_sudden_stop-en-noun-Fea~W8x6",
      "links": [
        [
          "fall",
          "fall"
        ],
        [
          "death",
          "death"
        ],
        [
          "hanging",
          "hanging"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A fall to one's death by hanging."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "a quick drop and a sudden stop"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "ə shôrtʹ drŏpʹ ən(d)ə sŭdʹən stŏpʹ",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ə ˌʃɔɹʔ ˈdɹɒp ən ə ˌsʌdn̩ ˈstɒp]",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-a short drop and a sudden stop.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a6/En-au-a_short_drop_and_a_sudden_stop.ogg/En-au-a_short_drop_and_a_sudden_stop.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/En-au-a_short_drop_and_a_sudden_stop.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "a short drop and a sudden stop"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Popular due to the internal rhyme of drop with stop.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "a short drop and a sudden stop",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English coordinated pairs",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Capital punishment",
        "en:Death"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1923, Austin B Griffin, Reports of Cases Heard and Determined in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, volume 203, page 885:",
          "text": "I see, in other words, a short drop and then a sudden stop?",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl:",
          "text": "I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets what he deserves: A short drop and a sudden stop.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005 January 8, “Bookman”, alt.fan.heinlein (Google group): Clarke Survives Tsunamis",
          "text": "> But, yeah, the death penalty is a little stiff just for pretentious writing.\n> Punning now… it’d be a capital idea, there.\nLet’s not start _that_ row. Give it a quick drop and a sudden stop, rather than letting them hang…"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 Hirchak, John Hirchak. Ghosts of Old Wilmington, page 27 (The History Press; →ISBN)",
          "text": "If you were lucky enough to survive all this lunacy, you always risked capture. There your story would end with a quick drop and a sudden stop, for piracy was punishable by hanging."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A fall to one's death by hanging."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fall",
          "fall"
        ],
        [
          "death",
          "death"
        ],
        [
          "hanging",
          "hanging"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A fall to one's death by hanging."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "ə shôrtʹ drŏpʹ ən(d)ə sŭdʹən stŏpʹ",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ə ˌʃɔɹʔ ˈdɹɒp ən ə ˌsʌdn̩ ˈstɒp]",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-a short drop and a sudden stop.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a6/En-au-a_short_drop_and_a_sudden_stop.ogg/En-au-a_short_drop_and_a_sudden_stop.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/En-au-a_short_drop_and_a_sudden_stop.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "a quick drop and a sudden stop"
    }
  ],
  "word": "a short drop and a sudden stop"
}