Meaning & use
plopped
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“plopped” is a form of “plop”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitive
Fell or dropped straight down with a soft heavy sound, especially into liquid or onto a seat.
Grammar: No object; the thing that moves is the subject, and it is usually followed by a phrase like into, onto, down or in.
Patterns
- plop into something
- plop down on something
- plop onto something
She plopped into the armchair and kicked off her shoes.
The stone plopped into the pond and the ducks scattered.
He plopped down on the grass beside us.
verbtransitive
Put something down somewhere quickly and without much care.
Grammar: Takes an object: you plop something somewhere, so the sentence needs both the thing and the place.
Patterns
- plop something on something
- plop something down
- plop something into something
She plopped the bags of shopping on the kitchen table.
He plopped his keys down and went straight to the fridge.
The waiter plopped a bowl of rice in front of me.
Word forms
| base form | plop |
|---|---|
| third person singular | plops |
| present participle | plopping |
| past tense | plopped |
| past participle | plopped |
Common combinations
- plop down
- Tired after the walk, we plopped down by the fire.
- plop into a chair
- He plopped into a chair and asked for a glass of water.
- plop onto the sofa
- The kids plopped onto the sofa with the popcorn.
- plop something on the table
- She plopped the tray on the table and called everyone to eat.
- plop into the water
- One by one the frogs plopped into the water.
Synonyms and how they differ
- drop
- More general and can be deliberate or accidental; plop adds the idea of a soft heavy sound and a careless landing.
- flop
- Very close, but flop often suggests a body going limp or landing awkwardly, while plop suggests a neat, quick drop.
- dump
- Used for putting things down heavily and carelessly, but it is usually transitive and does not describe a sound.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: plopped or plodded? plopped or popped?
plopped vs plodded
Plodded means walked slowly and heavily; plopped means dropped or sat down suddenly, so the two describe very different movements.
plopped vs popped
Popped means made a small sharp explosive sound or went somewhere briefly; plopped is a softer, heavier landing sound.
Practice
Which sentence uses "plopped" in the way described here?
Choose one answer.
"Plopped" here means put something down quickly and carelessly, so it needs an object (the box) and a place (onto the counter). Option 0 describes a repeated sound rather than a single careless drop, option 2 uses the different word "plodded", and option 3 is the unrelated verb "popped".
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “plopped”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.