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Meaning of fall in English

  1. Pronunciation

    /fɔl/

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  1. Verb

    fall

    Etymology

    Old English fallan, feallan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vallen and German fallen; the noun is partly from the verb, partly from Old Norse fall‘downfall, sin’

    Definitions

    1. descend in free fall under the influence of gravity

    Examples

    • « The branch fell from the tree »
    • « The unfortunate hiker fell into a crevasse »
  2. 2. move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way

    Examples

    • « The temperature is going down »
    • « The barometer is falling »
    • « The curtain fell on the diva »
    • « Her hand went up and then fell again »

    Antonyms

    • rise
    • lift
    • arise
    • move up
    • go up
    • come up
    • uprise
    • ascend
    • go up
  3. 3. pass suddenly and passively into a state of body or mind

    Examples

    • « fall into a trap »
    • « She fell ill »
    • « They fell out of favor »
    • « Fall in love »
    • « fall asleep »
    • « fall prey to an imposter »
    • « fall into a strange way of thinking »
    • « she fell to pieces after she lost he »
  4. 4. come under, be classified or included

    Examples

    • « fall into a category »
    • « This comes under a new heading »
  5. 5. fall from clouds

    Examples

    • « rain, snow and sleet were falling »
    • « Vesuvius precipitated its fiery, destructive rage on Herculaneum »
  6. 6. suffer defeat, failure, or ruin

    Examples

    • « We must stand or fall »
    • « fall by the wayside »
  7. 7. decrease in size, extent, or range

    Examples

    • « The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester »
    • « The cabin pressure fell dramatically »
    • « her weight fall to under a hundred pounds »
    • « his voice fell to a whisper »

    Antonyms

    • increase
  8. 8. die, as in battle or in a hunt

    Examples

    • « Many soldiers fell at Verdun »
    • « Several deer have fallen to the same gun »
    • « The shooting victim fell dead »
  9. 9. touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly

    Examples

    • « Light fell on her face »
    • « The sun shone on the fields »
    • « The light struck the golden necklace »
    • « A strange sound struck my ears »
  10. 10. be captured

    Examples

    • « The cities fell to the enemy »
  11. 11. occur at a specified time or place

    Examples

    • « Christmas falls on a Monday this year »
    • « The accent falls on the first syllable »
  12. 12. yield to temptation or sin

    Examples

    • « Adam and Eve fell »
  13. 13. lose office or power

    Examples

    • « The government fell overnight »
    • « The Qing Dynasty fell with Sun Yat-sen »
  14. 14. to be given by assignment or distribution

    Examples

    • « The most difficult task fell on the youngest member of the team »
    • « The onus fell on us »
    • « The pressure to succeed fell on the yougest student »
  15. 15. move in a specified direction

    Examples

    • « The line of men fall forward »
  16. 16. be due

    Examples

    • « payments fall on the 1st of the month »
  17. 17. lose one's chastity

    Examples

    • « a fallen woman »
  18. 18. to be given by right or inheritance

    Examples

    • « The estate fell to the oldest daughter »
  19. 19. come into the possession of

    Examples

    • « The house accrued to the oldest son »
  20. 20. fall to somebody by assignment or lot

    Examples

    • « The task fell to me »
    • « It fell to me to notify the parents of the victims »
  21. 21. be inherited by

    Examples

    • « The estate fell to my sister »
    • « The land returned to the family »
    • « The estate devolved to an heir that everybody had assumed to be dead »
  22. 22. slope downward

    Examples

    • « The hills around here fall towards the ocean »
  23. 23. lose an upright position suddenly

    Examples

    • « The vase fell over and the water spilled onto the table »
    • « Her hair fell across her forehead »
  24. 24. drop oneself to a lower or less erect position

    Examples

    • « She fell back in her chair »
    • « He fell to his knees »
  25. 25. fall or flow in a certain way

    Examples

    • « This dress hangs well »
    • « Her long black hair flowed down her back »
  26. 26. assume a disappointed or sad expression

    Examples

    • « Her face fell when she heard that she would be laid off »
    • « his crest fell »
  27. 27. be cast down

    Examples

    • « his eyes fell »
  28. 28. come out

    Examples

    • « issue »
    • « silly phrases fell from her mouth »
  29. 29. be born, used chiefly of lambs

    Examples

    • « The lambs fell in the afternoon »
  30. 30. begin vigorously

    Examples

    • « The prisoners fell to work right away »
  31. 31. go as if by falling

    Examples

    • « Grief fell from our hearts »
  32. 32. come as if by falling

    Examples

    • « Night fell »
    • « Silence fell »
  33. Noun

    fall

    Definitions

    1. the season when the leaves fall from the trees

    Examples

    • « in the fall of 1973 »
  34. 2. a sudden drop from an upright position

    Examples

    • « he had a nasty spill on the ice »
  35. 3. the lapse of mankind into sinfulness because of the sin of Adam and Eve

    Examples

    • « women have been blamed ever since the Fall »
  36. 4. a downward slope or bend

    Antonyms

    • ascent
    • acclivity
    • rise
    • raise
    • climb
    • upgrade
  37. 5. a lapse into sin

    Examples

    • « a loss of innocence or of chastity »
    • « a fall from virtue »
  38. 6. a sudden decline in strength or number or importance

    Examples

    • « the fall of the House of Hapsburg »

    Antonyms

    • rise
  39. 7. a movement downward

    Examples

    • « the rise and fall of the tides »

    Antonyms

    • rise
    • rising
    • ascent
    • ascension
  40. 8. the act of surrendering (under agreed conditions)

    Examples

    • « they were protected until the capitulation of the fort »
  41. 9. the time of day immediately following sunset

    Examples

    • « he loved the twilight »
    • « they finished before the fall of night »
  42. 10. when a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat
  43. 11. a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity

    Examples

    • « it was a miracle that he survived the drop from that height »
  44. 12. a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity

    Examples

    • « a drop of 57 points on the Dow Jones index »
    • « there was a drop in pressure in the pulmonary artery »
    • « a dip in prices »
    • « when that became known the price of their stock went into free fall »

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