drop the ball

phrase

: to make a mistake especially by failing to take timely, effective, or proper action

Examples of drop the ball in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Yankees star Alex Rodriguez distracted Blue Jays third baseman Howie Clark by shouting at him on a key pop-up during the ninth inning, which spawned a near-fight after the infielder dropped the ball and a run scored. — Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026

Boston went ahead 3-2 in the fifth after reliever Jakob Junis dropped the ball while on the rubber, resulting in a balk that sent a runner home from third base. — ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026

Lewis repeatedly overthrew open deep shots in the first half; In the second, his wideouts took turns dropping the ball. — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 4 Sep. 2026

The Rays were an out away from a 3-1 loss when DeLuca delivered a two-out home run down the left field line that got a little help getting over the 4-foot, 11-inch fence as Samad Taylor appeared to make the catch, then dropped the ball on contact. — Marc Topkin, The Orlando Sentinel, 30 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for drop the ball

• aerosol
• alcohol
• arbitral
• basketball
• butanol
• cannonball
• carbinol
• cortisol
• ethanol
• fireball
• gasohol
• gossypol