drop·out
ˈdräp-ˌau̇t 
1
a
: one who drops out of school
b
: one who drops out of conventional society
c
: one who abandons an attempt, activity, or chosen path
a corporate dropout
2
: a momentary defect on a magnetic tape or disk caused by a temporary loss of signal
dropped out; dropping out; drops out
: to withdraw from participation or membership : quit
especially
: to withdraw from conventional society
Examples of dropout in a Sentence
Noun
The program is designed for dropouts who wish to get high school equivalency certificates.
Recent Examples on the Web
Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024
Over time, both spacecraft have encountered unexpected issues and dropouts, including a seven-month period in 2020 when Voyager 2 couldn’t communicate with Earth.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 18 June 2024
Tony Maglio, IndieWire, 11 Sep. 2024
The vice president had narrow leads nationally in a list of polls released in the past few weeks, but her campaign got a surprise Sunday when a New York Times-Siena College survey put Trump up 1 percentage point — suggesting her surge after President Joe Biden dropped out has ended.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 10 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dropout 
Noun
This post-transfer ensures no dropouts in the audio.
—Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024
Over time, both spacecraft have encountered unexpected issues and dropouts, including a seven-month period in 2020 when Voyager 2 couldn’t communicate with Earth.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 18 June 2024
Verb
Weeks after a poor performance, Biden dropped out of the race.
—Tony Maglio, IndieWire, 11 Sep. 2024
The vice president had narrow leads nationally in a list of polls released in the past few weeks, but her campaign got a surprise Sunday when a New York Times-Siena College survey put Trump up 1 percentage point — suggesting her surge after President Joe Biden dropped out has ended.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 10 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for dropout
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dropout.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near dropout
Cite this Entry
“Dropout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dropout. Accessed 19 Sep. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dropout
1 of 2 noun
drop·out
ˈdräp-ˌau̇t
: a person who drops out especially from a school or a training program
drop out
2 of 2 verb
: to withdraw from taking part or membership : quit
dropped out of school
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