- the descent to earth of radioactive particles, as after a nuclear explosion
- these particles
- the negative consequences of any action or decision
A sign for a fallout shelter.
- When you get a divorce and, as a result, your friends have to choose sides and you are lonely, these are examples of the fallout of the divorce.
- When a nuclear bomb is dropped on a city, the radioactive particles that remain in the air are an example of the fallout.
Fallout is defined as the consequence or result of something, or radioactive particles from a nuclear explosion.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"fallout." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/fallout>.
APA Style
fallout. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/fallout
fallout
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"fallout." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/fallout>.
APA Style
fallout. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/fallout
fallout
noun
- a. The slow descent of minute particles of debris in the atmosphere following an explosion, especially the descent of radioactive debris after a nuclear explosion.b. The particles that descend in this fashion.
- An incidental result or side effect: “Other social trends also have psychiatric fallout, and the people who suffer can't afford treatment” ( Martha Farnsworth Riche )
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"fallout." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/fallout>.
APA Style
fallout. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/fallout
Noun
(plural fallouts)
- The event of small airborne particles falling to the ground in significant quantities as a result of major industrial activity, volcano eruption, sandstorm, nuclear explosion, etc.
- The particles themselves.
- On 26 April 1986 the reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located in the Soviet Union near Pripyat in Ukraine exploded. Further explosions and the resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area.
- A negative side effect; an undesirable or unexpected consequence.
- Psychological fallout in the shadow of terrorism, title of an article by Dr. Abraham Twerski, M.D. in .
- (rare) A declined offer in a sales transaction when acceptance was presumed.
- (rare) The person who declines such an offer.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"fallout." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 15 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/fallout>.
APA Style
fallout. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/fallout
Sentence Examples
- So, after the statement was made and the fallout ensued, Autism United, a completely legitimate agency based in New York, demanded an apology from CBS and some sponsors pulled their advertising.
- By the time the reunion rolled around the cast was ready to confront the fallout of the conflicts on the show as well as barbs traded in the interim between Gretchen and Tamra on the internet.
- When Danny and Sandy are unexpectedly in the same place at the time same time again, the two former lovers try to date while their all-too-different social tiers deal with the fallout.
- As bands like Dashboard Confessional and Fallout Boy enjoyed wide success, the term emo became even more amorphous, with bands being labeled "emo" for having only a vague resemblance to other emo artists or a stereotypical emo image.
- At the end of the show, Simpson commented that her band had made an error with the song.The fallout from the lip synching incident was brutal, with fans and critics taking stabs at Simpson's inept singing abilities.
» more...