dropper

Everyday

1. A small tube, usually glass or plastic, with a rubber bulb at the top, used to take up a liquid and let it out drop by drop. tree →
2. (informal) Someone who drops something, as in a name-dropper (someone who boasts about famous people they know). tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons, a dropper (or pipette) adds small amounts of liquid in experiments; in health, medicine or eye drops come with a dropper; phrases: «a dropper bottle», «eye dropper», «name-dropper».

Examples

• Use the dropper to add three drops of food colouring. tree →
• The nurse gave the baby medicine with a dropper. tree →
• We put iodine on the potato with a dropper. tree →
• Squeeze the bulb gently, or the dropper will squirt. tree →
• Eye drops come in a little dropper bottle. tree →
• Count each drop from the dropper carefully. tree →

Note

Countable. In science, a «pipette» is a more exact tool; in maths and science, if each drop is 0.05 ml, then 20 drops make 1 ml.