What does eyedropper mean?
An eyedropper is a small handheld device consisting of a slender glass or plastic tube fitted with a squeezable rubber bulb at one end. When the bulb is pinched and released with the tip submerged in liquid, the resulting suction draws fluid into the tube; gentle pressure on the bulb then releases it as individual drops. Eyedroppers are best known for administering liquid medication directly into the eye — the task that gives them their name — but they are equally common for dosing infants' medicine, adding food colouring, applying ink, or transferring small quantities of fluid in crafts and hobby work. The word carries no strong connotation and suits both everyday and technical contexts. In laboratory settings, the more precise pipette has largely superseded it, yet the eyedropper remains a familiar household object. Its transparent construction lets users see exactly how much liquid has been drawn, making it a simple but genuinely useful instrument.
nounA small glass or plastic tube with a rubber bulb at one end, used to draw up and dispense liquid in very small drops. It is commonly used for administering eye drops, medicines, and precise amounts of liquid in laboratory or craft work.
- A small tube with a rubber bulb used to dispense liquid drop by drop, especially for administering medication to the eye.
- By extension, any similar dropper device used for measuring or transferring small amounts of liquid.
"She squeezed the eyedropper gently to place a single drop of medicine into the infant's ear."
"The pharmacist showed her how to use the eyedropper to administer the antibiotic drops."
"He transferred the dye into the mixture one careful eyedropper at a time."
Regular plural; used when referring to multiple devices or to supplies in general.
"The kit included two sterile eyedroppers and several vials."
The humble eyedropper is one of the few tools whose name literally tells you what it does: it drops things into eyes.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eyedropper
Eyedropper is a straightforward English compound formed from "eye" (from Old English ēage) and "dropper," the agent noun of "drop" (from Old English dropa). The word emerged in the nineteenth century as such devices came into common domestic and pharmaceutical use. Its components are thoroughly Germanic in origin, so its closest relatives are other English compounds built on "eye" and "drop," rather than words borrowed from Latin or Greek.
How eyedropper is actually used
The term is informal-to-neutral register and widely understood in both British and American English; "dropper" is often used interchangeably in everyday speech.
Easily confused with eyedropper
A pipette is a more precise laboratory instrument for measuring volumes of liquid, while an eyedropper is a simple household tool that dispenses drops without calibrated measurement.