Definition: Using the mouse to grab and move objects such as graphics and blocks of text from one location to another on the computer is known as drag and drop.
To drag and drop an object, put your mouse (or graphics pen) pointer on the object then left click and hold the mouse button while dragging the object across the desktop to where you want it to go. To drop it, release the button.
At its simplest, drag and drop is how you move icons around on your desktop or how you grab a text block at the top of a page layout and move it to the bottom of the page.
It is increasingly popular for programs to allow drag and drop operations across applications -- grabbing a graphic from your graphics program window and dragging it across to the window of a page layout application and dropping it there, for instance -- instead of having to use the place or import menu commands.
Alternate Spellings: drag 'n drop | drag-and-drop
Examples:
One common drag and drop operation is to drag and drop the icon representing a document onto the icon representing your desktop printer in order to add that document to the print queue.
