'To drop a vessel' definitions:

Definition of 'To drop a vessel'

From: GCIDE

Drop \Drop\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Droppedor Dropt; p. pr. & vb. n. Dropping.] [OE. droppen, AS. dropan, v. i. See Drop, n.]
1. To pour or let fall in drops; to pour in small globules; to distill. "The trees drop balsam." --Creech. [1913 Webster]
The recording angel, as he wrote it down, dropped a tear upon the word and blotted it out forever. --Sterne. [1913 Webster]
2. To cause to fall in one portion, or by one motion, like a drop; to let fall; as, to drop a line in fishing; to drop a courtesy. [1913 Webster]
3. To let go; to dismiss; to set aside; to have done with; to discontinue; to forsake; to give up; to omit. [1913 Webster]
They suddenly drop't the pursuit. --S. Sharp. [1913 Webster]
That astonishing ease with which fine ladies drop you and pick you up again. --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
The connection had been dropped many years. -- Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
Dropping the too rough H in Hell and Heaven. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
4. To bestow or communicate by a suggestion; to let fall in an indirect, cautious, or gentle manner; as, to drop hint, a word of counsel, etc. [1913 Webster]
5. To lower, as a curtain, or the muzzle of a gun, etc. [1913 Webster]
6. To send, as a letter; as, please drop me a line, a letter, word. [1913 Webster]
7. To give birth to; as, to drop a lamb. [1913 Webster]
8. To cover with drops; to variegate; to bedrop. [1913 Webster]
Show to the sun their waved coats dropped with gold. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
To drop a vessel (Naut.), to leave it astern in a race or a chase; to outsail it. [1913 Webster]