▪ I. drooping, vbl. n.
(ˈdruːpɪŋ)
[f. droop v. + -ing1.]
The action or state expressed by the verb droop; lit. downward hang or depression; fig. falling off, pining away; dejection.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1748 He watz in drowping depe. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3291 Sobbyng vnfaire..with drouping on nightes. 1657 Austen Fruit Trees ii. 160 To support the people of God against discouragements and droopings. 1816 Byron Dream v, An unquiet drooping of the eye. |
| attrib. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. v. 5 When saplesse Age..Should bring thy Father to his drooping Chaire. |
▪ II. drooping, ppl. a.
[f. droop v. + -ing2.]
1. Hanging or bending down; descending, declining. In names of plants = L. nutans.
| 1590 [see droop v. 2]. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xxvii. 7 Keep my drooping eyelids open wide. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xxxviii. xi, Hang down her drooping head. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants III. 144 Long stems entirely drooping. 1827 Keble Chr. Y. 2nd Sund. Advent ii, Why lifts the Church her drooping head? 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 275 Drooping Star of Bethlehem. 1878 Britten Plant-n., Drooping Tulip, Fritillaria Meleagris. |
2. Declining from vigour, prosperity, etc.; failing, decaying, flagging.
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 31 b, He that is so sower of witte, and so drowpyng of braine. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 210 Overburthened with drooping old age. 1747 Gentl. Mag. 17 Drooping cattle..recover'd to their health. 1885 Manch. Exam. 3 June 5/3 In the face of a drooping market. |
3. Dejected, depressed, dispirited, despondent.
| a 1300 [see droop v. 5]. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ix. x, Fayr knyȝt why sytte ye soo droupyng. 1655 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 289 To reuiue y⊇ droopeing speritts of our freinds in England. 1838 Thirlwall Greece IV. xxxiv. 331 To endeavour to raise their drooping spirits. |