fall

(fôl)

verb fell fell (fĕl), fall·en (fôˈlən), fall·ing, falls verb, intransitive

1. To drop or come down freely under the influence of gravity.
2. To drop oneself to a lower or less erect position: I fell back in my chair. The pilgrims fell to their knees.
3. a. To lose an upright or erect position suddenly.
   b. To drop wounded or dead, especially in battle.
4. To go or come as if by falling: All grief fell from our hearts. Night fell quickly.
5. To come to rest; settle: The light fell on my book.
6. To hang down: The child's hair fell in ringlets.
7. To be cast down: Her eyes fell.
8. To assume an expression of consternation or disappointment: His face fell when he heard the report.
9. To undergo conquest or capture, especially as the result of an armed attack: The city fell after a long siege.
10. a. To experience defeat or ruin: After 300 years the dynasty fell.
    b. To lose office: The disgraced prime minister fell from power.
11. To slope downward: The rolling hills fall gently toward the coast.
12. a. To lessen in amount or degree: The air pressure is falling.
    b. To decline in financial value: Last year, stocks fell sharply.
13. To diminish in pitch or volume: My friend's voice fell to a whisper.
14. a. To give in to temptation; sin.
    b. Theology To lose primordial innocence and happiness. Used of humanity as a result of the Fall.
    c. To lose one's chastity.
15. To pass into a particular state, condition, or situation: fell silent; fall in love.
16. To occur at a specified time: New Year's Day falls on a Tuesday this year.
17. To occur at a specified place: The stress falls on the last syllable.
18. To come, as by chance: fell among a band of thieves; a thought that fell into his mind.
19. a. To be given by assignment or distribution: The greatest task fell to me.
    b. To be given by right or inheritance.
20. To be included within the range or scope of something: The specimens fall into three categories.
21. 21. To come into contact; strike: My gaze fell on a small book in the corner.
22. 22. To come out; issue: Insincere compliments fell from their lips.
23. 23. To apply oneself: fell to work immediately.
24. 24. To be born. Used chiefly of lambs.

verb, transitive noun

1. The act or an instance of falling.
2. A sudden drop from a relatively erect to a less erect position.
3. Something that has fallen: a fall of hail.
4. a. An amount that has fallen: a fall of two inches of rain.
   b. The distance that something falls: The victim suffered a fall of three stories to the ground.
5. Autumn.
6. falls (used with a sing. or pl. verb) A waterfall.
7. A downward movement or slope.
8. Any of several pendent articles of dress, especially:
   a. A veil hung from a woman's hat and down her back.
   b. An ornamental cascade of lace or trimming attached to a dress, usually at the collar.
   c. A woman's hairpiece with long, free-hanging hair.
9. a. An overthrow; a collapse: the fall of a government.
   b. Armed capture of a place under siege: the fall of Troy.
10. A reduction in value, amount, or degree.
11. A marked, often sudden, decline in status, rank, or importance: “turned them in, set them up for prosecution; positioned them, as it were, for the fall” (Joan Didion).
12. a. A moral lapse.
    b. A loss of chastity.
13. often Fall Theology The loss of humanity's original innocence and happiness resulting from Adam and Eve's eating of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
14. Sports
    a. The act of holding a wrestling opponent on his or her back so that the shoulders remain in contact with the mat for a designated period, usually one or two seconds, thereby winning the match. Also called pin.
    b. Any of various wrestling maneuvers resulting in such an act.
15. Nautical
    a. A break or rise in the level of a deck.
    b. falls The apparatus used to hoist and transfer cargo or lifeboats.
16. The end of a cable, rope, or chain that is pulled by the power source in hoisting.
17. a. The birth of an animal, especially a lamb.
    b. All the animals born at one birth; a litter.
18. A family of woodcock in flight. See Synonyms at flock¹.
19. Botany The outer series of perianth in the irises and related plants.

adjective

1. Of, having to do with, occurring in, or appropriate to the season of fall: fall fashion; fall harvests.
2. Grown during the season of fall: fall crops.

Phrasal Verbs: fall apart To break down; collapse: The rickety chair fell apart. To suffer a nervous breakdown: He fell apart after years as a POW. fall away To withdraw one's friendship and support. To become gradually diminished in size. To drift off an established course. To lose weight. fall back To give ground; retreat. To recede: The waves fell back. fall behind To fail to keep up a pace; lag behind. To be financially in arrears. fall down To fail to meet expectations; lag in performance: fell down on the job. fall for To feel love for; be in love with. To be deceived or swindled by: fell for the con artist's scheme and lost $200,000. fall in To take one's place in a military formation. To sink inward; cave in: The roof of the old barn fell in. fall off To become less; decrease: Stock prices have fallen off. The number of staff meetings fell off after a few months. To lose weight: Toward the end of the dry season, the cattle fall off rapidly. Nautical To change course to leeward.fall on/upon To attack suddenly and viciously: Snipers and irregulars fell on the hapless patrol. To meet with; encounter: a stockbroker who fell on hard times. fall out To quarrel: The siblings fell out over their inheritance. To happen; occur. To be readily explainable; follow logically or naturally: These facts fall out nicely from the new theory. fall through To fail; miscarry: Our plans fell through at the last minute. fall to To begin an activity energetically: “The press fell to with a will” (Russell Baker).