dropout

Someone who leaves school or college before finishing their course.

• He is a college dropout.
• The programme helps school dropouts return to education.
• She succeeded in business despite being a university dropout.

Opposites: graduate

Common phrases: school dropout, college dropout, dropout rate

Someone who suddenly stops taking part in something, or the act of stopping.

• The study had three dropouts.
• A high dropout rate made the trial difficult to complete.
• The team replaced a last-minute dropout before the competition.

Similar words: withdrawal

Common phrases: study dropout, participant dropout, dropout rate

Someone who chooses to stop following the usual ways of living and working in society.

• He became a dropout and joined a commune.
• These dropouts preferred a simpler life outside the city.
• She described herself as a dropout from conventional society.

Common phrases: social dropout, dropout lifestyle

A damaged part of a recording or disk that causes a short gap in sound, pictures, or data.

• A dropout interrupted the recorded sound.
• The old tape has several dropouts.
• Damaged sections of the disk caused data dropouts.

Common phrases: tape dropout, audio dropout, brief dropout