Fall Definition

fôl
fallen, falling, falls, fell
verb
fallen, falling, falls, fell
To come down because detached, pushed, dropped, etc.; move down and land forcibly.
Apples fall from the tree.
Webster's New World
To drop or come down freely under the influence of gravity.
Leaves fell from the tree.
American Heritage
To drop oneself to a lower or less erect position.
I fell back in my chair. The pilgrims fell to their knees.
American Heritage
To come down suddenly from a standing or sitting position; tumble; topple; become prostrate.
Webster's New World
To be wounded or killed in battle.
Webster's New World
noun
falls
The act or an instance of falling.
American Heritage
A dropping; descending; coming down.
Webster's New World
A sudden drop from a relatively erect to a less erect position.
American Heritage
A coming down suddenly from a standing or sitting position.
Webster's New World
A hanging down, or a part hanging down.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
pronoun

(theology) The sudden fall of humanity into a state of sin, as brought about by the transgression of Adam and Eve. [from 14th c.]

Wiktionary
adjective
Of, having to do with, occurring in, or appropriate to the season of fall.
Fall fashion; fall harvests.
American Heritage
Of, in, for, or characteristic of the fall season.
Webster's New World
idiom
fall back on
  • To rely on:

    fall back on old friends in time of need.

  • To resort to:

    I had to fall back on my savings when I was unemployed.

American Heritage
fall between (the) two stools
  • To fail because of an inability to reconcile or choose between two courses of action.
American Heritage
fall flat
  • To fail miserably when attempting to achieve a result.
  • To have no effect:

    The jokes fell flat.

American Heritage
fall foul
  • To collide. Used of vessels.
  • To clash:

    fell foul of the law.

American Heritage
fall from grace
  • To experience a major reduction in status or prestige.
American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Fall

Noun

Singular:
fall
Plural:
falls

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Fall

Origin of Fall

  • From Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan (“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *pōl-, *spōl- (“to fall”). Cognate with West Frisian falle (“to fall”), Low German fallen (“to fall”), Dutch vallen (“to fall”), German fallen (“to fall”), Icelandic falla (“to fall”), Lithuanian pùlti, Ancient Greek σφάλλω (sphállō, “bring down, destroy, cause to stumble, deceive”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English fallen from Old English feallan

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to fall using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

fall