Meaning & use
dripping
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
So soaked that liquid falls from it in drops.
Grammar: Can come before a noun or after be: a dripping umbrella, the towel is dripping.
Patterns
- dripping with something
- dripping wet
He came in from the rain with his coat dripping on the mat.
She hung up the dripping towels over the bath.
The dripping tap kept me awake all night.
adjectiveafter a verbfigurative
Having a great deal of something, such as jewelry or a quality, used with with.
Grammar: Always followed by with: dripping with sarcasm.
Patterns
- dripping with something
The queen walked in, dripping with diamonds.
His reply was dripping with sarcasm.
The hall was dripping with luxury.
noununcountableBritish
The fat that melts from roasting meat and is kept to cook with or spread on bread.
Grammar: Uncountable and mostly British: a spoonful of dripping.
Patterns
- bread and dripping
- fry something in dripping
My grandfather loved bread and dripping on a cold day.
Chips fried in beef dripping have a rich taste.
She saved the dripping from the Sunday roast.
Common combinations
- dripping wet
- The puppy came back from the pond dripping wet.
- dripping with sweat
- The runners finished the race dripping with sweat.
- dripping with sarcasm
- Her thanks were dripping with sarcasm.
- dripping tap
- A dripping tap can waste hundreds of liters a year.
- beef dripping
- The recipe calls for beef dripping to roast the potatoes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- soaking
- Soaking says the thing is very wet through, while dripping stresses that water is actually falling off it.
- sopping
- Sopping is informal and means completely saturated, but it does not suggest drops falling.
- drenched
- Drenched means thoroughly wet, usually from rain, and often describes a person rather than an object that drips.
- leaking
- Leaking applies to a container or pipe letting liquid escape, whereas dripping can describe anything wet.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: dripping or leaking?
dripping vs leaking
A leaking pipe lets liquid escape through a fault. A dripping pipe may simply have drops falling from it, so dripping does not always imply a defect.
Practice
Complete the sentence: The actor's speech was ___ with false modesty.
Choose one answer.
Dripping with is the figurative pattern meaning full of something. Soaking and pouring do not take this pattern for a quality.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dripping”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.