up to Idioms

Drop a hint

Contribute an edit

Submissions are moderated and will not appear immediately.

Text

Allowed HTML: <em>, <strong>, <i>, <a href>, <p>, <ul>, <ol>, <li>, <sup>, <sub>. Links must be internal relative URLs.
Anything else, eg suggestion of category change, scientific name etc.
Generated image of a woman dropping hints
To drop a hint means to suggest something without saying it directly, in the hope that someone else will notice and figure it out on their own.

The phrase appeared in English in the 1800s. The word drop suggests placing the clue lightly into conversation so the other person can notice it.

She was dropping hints she wanted him to pop the question.