Wiktionary
n. A secondary ceiling, suspended from above, used to conceal wiring, plumbing and ducts
Wikipedia
A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling, hung below the main (structural) ceiling. It may also be referred to as a drop ceiling, T-bar ceiling, false ceiling, suspended ceiling, grid ceiling, drop in ceiling, drop out ceiling, or ceiling tiles and is a staple of modern construction and architecture in both residential and commercial applications.
Usage examples of "dropped ceiling".
Narrow and lit by every third bank of fluorescents in the dropped ceiling, it went back about thirty feet, ending in a cross corridor.
I grabbed a courtesy chair, climbed up on it and reached up, connecting the rope through the dropped ceiling, letting it dangle on the floor.
She lay supine on the fixed corridor ceiling with her head over the dropped ceiling of the dispatch room.
The most likely place for a secret room from which the stage could be controlled is between that dropped ceiling and the floor above.
He called Arkady's attention to walls of baroque cream and gold, pointing out how the dropped ceiling hid the dome overhead.
Back in the late sixties, in an effort to improve the lighting, a dropped ceiling had been installed.
The room reminded Catlin of the Museum of the Asias basement workshop, except for the closed-circuit TV cameras set inconspicuously at opposite corners of the dropped ceiling.
Intricate vine-leaf molding on the plaster above the dropped ceiling.