to get the drop on someone
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To have him in your power., probably from the early method of pistol shooting whereby the weapon was raised high and then lowered, or dropped, towards its target.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to get the drop on someone” mean?
To have him in your power., probably from the early method of pistol shooting whereby the weapon was raised high and then lowered, or dropped, towards its target.
Is “to get the drop on someone” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.