In telecommunication, the term drop has the following meanings:

  1. In a communications network, the portion of a device directly connected to the internal station facilities, such as toward a switchboard or toward a switching center.
  2. The central office side of test jacks.
  3. A wire or cable from a pole or cable terminus to a building.
  4. To delete, intentionally or unintentionally, or to lose part of a signal, such as dropping bits from a bit stream.

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C in support of MIL-STD-188