dropping the ball
Neglecting your duty
Dropping the ball is failing to follow through on a responsibility or task, especially one others were counting on you to handle.
The image comes from sports—a player who literally drops the ball costs their team.
I really dropped the ball on that project deadline.
The phrase emphasizes that the failure was avoidable and disappointing.
- fumbleHandle with clumsy fingers
- mishapMinor unfortunate occurrence
- oversightSupervision or inadvertent omission
- negligenceFailure to exercise care
- missed opportunityChance not taken
fall short · mishandling · accountability · blunder · turnover · error · omission · slip-up · obligation · fault · take the blame · pass the buck · carelessness · lapse · asleep at the wheel · flub · duty · gaffe
- New Yearcountdown, midnight kiss, champagne toast, New Year's Day, resolutions
- Australian footballAFL, handball, mark, specky, torpedo
- negligenceneglect, gross negligence, criminal negligence, medical negligence, negligence
dropping the ballfollowing through
Completing what was started
coming through · delivering · stepping up · rising to the occasion · pulling one's weight
dropping the ballkeeping one's eye on the ball
Maintaining focus on essentials
keeping tabs · keeping track · following up · paying attention · minding the shop
drop, dropping, dropped, drops, dropper, droplet, ball, balls, balled