one could hear a pin drop

English

Alternative forms

• so quiet you can hear a pin drop, so quiet one can hear a pin drop, so quiet one could hear a pin drop

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Phrase

one could hear a pin drop

1. (idiomatic) Extremely quiet, for example, as during a lull in a normally bustling place or scene, or at a sudden dramatic or tense moment.
   • 1967, Tommy Faile (lyrics and music), “Phantom 309”, performed by Red Sovine:

     Told the waiter Big Joe was settin' me up / Aw!, you coulda heard a pin drop, it got deathly quiet / And the waiter's face turned kinda white

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: hiirenhiljainen (closest equivalent)
• French: entendre les mouches voler (fr), on entendait les mouches voler
• German: man konnte eine Stecknadel fallen hören
• Romanian: nu se auzi nici musca
• Russian: слы́шно, как му́ха пролети́т (slýšno, kak múxa proletít)
• Swedish: man kunde höra en nål falla

References

• “you could have heard a pin drop”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “you could hear a pin drop” (US) / “you could hear a pin drop” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.