To drop a "rung" is as explained below, a step down on a ladder. Used as an expression it can mean to decrease rank, lose some credibility, lose popularity - or anytime one's reputation decreases in the opinion of others.

Could it be “drop a rung”? When you climb a ladder, each step is a “rung”. If you “drop a rung” you are going a step down. While certainly not a phrase that is very common, it is sometimes used to describe how a sports team or individual competitor is doing overall compared to others. “After the team’s dramatic loss, they dropped a rung in the league’s standings.”

падать уровен. Спусться уровен или шаг. A 'wrung' is a step on a ladder. A 1.8m ladder might have 5 steps or 5 wrungs. So if you drop a wrung, you come down a level, you come down one step. You can use this phrase figuratively too, as a figure of speech. E.g. When the girl said 'no', the boy's self-esteem dropped a wrung. )))

Hii