needle drop

noun

plural needle drops

1

: the dropping of needles by a conifer (such as a spruce, yew, or pine)

Fall needle drop occurs each year …

—Deborah Brown

2

: a popular song used in a film or television show for dramatic effect

… heavy metal needle drops add a flourish to sword fights …

—Robert Daniels

—often hyphenated when used before another noun

needle-drop scores

Examples of needle drop in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But Practical Magic 2 has little on its mind besides how to wring nostalgia from every gesture, needle drop, and line of dialogue. — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026

Alongside these folk songs, there are needle drops from Van Morrison, Dean Martin and Mick Jagger. — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2026

By 2022, their major label debut Error started to move the needle, and 2024’s Keep Me Fed was the proverbial needle drop. — Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 27 Aug. 2026

Yet Schoenbrun’s needle drops also seem to have been chosen to make the audience chuckle. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for needle drop

• barbershop
• countertop
• lollipop
• mountaintop
• photoshop
• tabletop
• turboprop
• atop
• backdrop
• backstop
• bebop
• blacktop