fall

present singular third person falls · participle present falling · past fell · participle past fallen · alternative obsolete fal

1. To be moved downwards.
   1. intransitiveheadingTo move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.

      I fell unconscious on the floor.

      2 more examples

      Thrown from a cliff, the stone fell 100 feet before hitting the ground.

      There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

      1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0091

      Synonyms: drop, plummet, plunge

   2. intransitiveheadingTo come down, to drop or descend.

      The rain fell at dawn.

      2 more examples

      Her eyes fell on the table, and she advanced into the room wiping her hands on her apron.

      1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond

      The study not only showed IQ variance between children the same parents, but because the authors had the IQ scores of various parents, it demonstrated that parents with higher IQs tended to have more kids, ruling out the dysgenic fertility theory as a driver of falling IQ scores and highlighting the role of environmental factors instead.

      2018 June 13, Rory Smith, “IQ scores are falling and have been for decades, new study finds”, in CNN

      Synonyms: come down, descend, drop, cut down, fell, knock down, knock over, strike down

   3. intransitiveheadingTo come as if by dropping down.

      The horse wrangler, a tall, bronzed-face man, waved to the wagon driver. The driver laughed. […] The canvas cover rolled up suddenly and a terrible noise fell over the desert.

      1981, Dan Kirby, Schreiber's Choice, Ace Books, →ISBN

      3 more examples

      Once or twice a noise fell upon his quick ear, and we halted, he standing revolver in hand in an attitude of defense. Each time, however, we ascertained that we had no occasion for alarm, the noise being made by some animal or bird ...

      1898, William Le Queux, Whoso Findeth a Wife, page 256

      And then a sudden calm fell on us like a cloud of fear. There! on the table, lay the Jewel of Seven Stars, shining and sparkling with lurid light, as though each of the seven points of each of the seven stars gleamed through blood!

      1904, Bram Stoker, The Jewel of Seven Stars, page 248

      Shortly afterwards a breeze came up from the N […] dark clouds closing in over everything. At 3 in the afternoon the breeze came up from the S with a thick drizzle. Thus night fell, and thus we passed the rest of it.

      1971, Henry Raup Wagner, Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

   4. intransitiveheadingTo come to the ground deliberately, to prostrate oneself.

      He fell to the floor and begged for mercy.

      Synonyms: drop, lower oneself, prostrate oneself

   5. intransitiveheadingTo be brought to the ground.
2. To move downwards.
   1. obsoletetransitiveTo let fall; to drop.

      For every tear he falls, a Trojan bleeds.

      1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC

      1 more example

      Ghoaſt [of Clarence]. […] / To morrow in the battaile thinke on me, / And fall thy edgeleſſe ſword, diſpaire and die.

      c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]

   2. obsoletetransitiveTo sink; to depress.

      to fall the voice

   3. UKUSarchaicdialectaltransitiveTo fell; to cut down.

      to fall a tree

3. To change, often negatively.
   1. copulativeintransitiveTo become (chiefly used with negative states).

      She has fallen ill.

      5 more examples

      Near-synonyms: become, get, go, turn, come, grow, wax

      The children fell asleep in the back of the car.

      When did you first fall in love?

      fall silent, fall sick, fall pregnant, fall victim to something

      At length they stood at the corner from which they had begun, and it had fallen quite dark, and they were no wiser.

      1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC, 1st book (Poverty), page 27

      Synonyms: become, get, go, turn, come, grow, wax, become

   2. intransitiveTo collapse; to be overthrown or defeated.

      Rome fell to the Goths in 410 AD.

      Synonyms: be beat by, be defeat by, be overthrow by, be smitten by, be vanquish by

   3. euphemisticformalintransitiveTo die, especially in battle or by disease.

      This is a monument to all those who fell in the First World War.

      Synonyms: die

   4. intransitiveTo become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc.).

      The candidate's poll ratings fell abruptly after the banking scandal.

      3 more examples

      The greatness of these Irish lords suddenly fell and vanished.

      1612, John Davies, Discoverie of the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued

      Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.

      1835, Sir John Ross, Sir James Clark Ross, Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Vol.1, pages 284–5

      Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.

      2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845

      Synonyms: dip, drop

4. To occur (on a certain day of the week, date, or similar); to happen.

   Last year, Commencement fell on June 3.

   2 more examples

   Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday.

   (Thus D-day fell on June 6 rather than the planned June 5.)

   1978, Dwight David Eisenhower, Mamie Doud Eisenhower, Letters to Mamie, Doubleday Books

5. intransitiveTo be allotted to; to arrive through chance, fate, or inheritance.

   The estate fell to his brother.

   3 more examples

   And so it falls to me to make this important decision.

   The kingdom fell into the hands of his rivals.

   If to her share some female errors fall, / Look on her face, and you'll forget them all.

   1712 May, [Alexander Pope], “The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-comical Poem.”, in Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, canto II

   Synonyms: be the responsibility of, be up to

6. obsoletetransitiveTo diminish; to lessen or lower.

   Upon lessening interest to four per cent, you fall the price of your native commodities.

   1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC

7. obsoletetransitiveTo bring forth.

   to fall lambs

   1 more example

   The shepherd[…]did[…] fall part-colour'd lambs

   c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]

8. intransitiveobsoleteTo issue forth into life; to be brought forth; said of the young of certain animals.

   My intended remarks are on the cords , and wiping dry the newly fallen calf

   1805, John Lawrence, A general treatise on cattle, the ox, the sheep, and the swine, etc, page 100

   3 more examples

   As for Calves newly fallen, you must leave them with good Litter of fresh Straw until such qime as the Cows have licked and cleansed them,

   1672, The Office of the Good House-wife, page 27

   another writer, adopting a similar opinion, affirms that it results from the lambs not being docked at a sufficiently early period; for "sometimes the ewe, in the ardour of her maternal affection, chews away the tail from her newly-fallen lamb, and none of these are afterwards affectd by the sturdy;

   1869, William Youatt, Sheep: Their Breeds, Management, and Diseases, page 382

   The newly fallen lambs are a peculiar sight, as they invariably come spotted or black ; but while the head and legs retain their inky black color, the wool grows out white as with the other Down breeds.

   1892, United States. Bureau of Animal Industry, Special Report on the History and Present Condition of the Sheep Industry of the United States, page 422

9. intransitiveTo descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin.

   Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 4:1

10. intransitiveTo become ensnared or entrapped; to be worse off than before.

    to fall into error;  to fall into difficulties;  to fall into ruin

11. intransitiveTo assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; said of the face.

    I have observed of late thy looks are fallen.

    1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene iv, page 8

    1 more example

    Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 4:5

12. intransitiveTo happen; to come to pass; to chance or light (upon).

    1879, Herbert Spencer, Principles of Sociology Volume II – Part IV: Ceremonial Institutions Primitive men […] do not make laws, they fall into customs.

    3 more examples

    Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ruth 3:18

    […]An the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him.

    c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]

    […] Polybius tells us, the beſt Government is that which conſiſts of three Forms, Regno, Optimatium, & Populi imperio. Which may be fairly Tranſlated, the Kings, Lords and Commons. […] the Romans fell upon this Model purely by chance, (which I take to have been Nature and common Reaſon) but the Spartans by Thought and Deſign.

    1701, [Jonathan Swift], “Chapter I”, in A Discourse of the Contests and Dissensions between the Nobles and the Commons in Athens and Rome, with the Consequences They Had upon Both Those States, London: […] John Nutt […], →OCLC, page 9

13. intransitiveTo begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence; to rush or hurry.

    After arguing, they fell to blows.

    1 more example

    They now no longer doubted, but fell to work heart and soul.

    1881, Benjamin Jowett (Thucydides)

14. intransitiveTo be dropped or uttered carelessly.

    An unguarded expression fell from his lips.

15. intransitiveTo hang down (under the influence of gravity).

    An Empire-style dress has a high waistline – directly under the bust – from which the dress falls all the way to a hem as low as the floor.

    2 more examples

    Her hair, which curled naturally, fell all over her shoulders.

    1878, Gaius Petronius Arbiter, translated by Walter Keating Kelly, Satyricon

    The flutters of drapery falling from the arms of the two angels in the upper compartment of the ivory, recall those falling from the right-hand arm of the elder to the left in Houvet's Plate 50.

    1923, Arthur Kingsley Porter, Romanesque Sculpture of the Pilgrimage Roads, volume 1, Marshall Jones Company, page 163

16. intransitiveslangAfrican-American VernacularTo visit; to go to a place.

    We'll fall over to the club tonight.

plural falls · alternative obsolete fal

1. countableuncountableThe act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity.

   the fall of the snow

   2 more examples

   the fall of the water

   the fall of the leaf

   Synonyms: descent, drop

2. countableuncountableA reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.

   “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.

   1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms: decrease, dip, drop, lowering, reduction

3. CanadaUSarchaiccountableuncountableThe time of the year when the leaves typically fall from the trees; autumn; the season of the year between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.First known use 16th c.

   A friend has pointed out to me the following remark on this word: "In North America the season in which this [the fall of the leaf] takes place, derives its name from that circumstance, and instead of autumn is universally called the fall." [brackets in original]

   1816, John Pickering, A Vocabulary, or Collection of Words Which Have Been Supposed to Be Peculiar to the United States of America

   Synonyms: autumn, harvest, back end

4. countableuncountableA waterfall.

   The celebrated fall of the Liffey, near Ballymore Eustace, is named Pool-a-Phooka, or The Pooka's Hole.

   1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 371

5. countableuncountableA loss of greatness or status.

   the fall of Rome

   Synonyms: downfall

6. countableuncountableThat which falls or cascades.

   A fall of hair tumbled down one side of her body like a veil.

   2010, Winter Pennington, Witch Wolf

   1 more example

   The heat of Daniel's gaze was nearly incendiary as he took in the fall of her hair spilling across her shoulders and down to her elbows.

   2011, Elizabeth Camden, The Lady of Bolton Hill, page 162

7. countableuncountableThe height of that which falls or cascades.
8. A crucial event or circumstance.
   1. countableuncountableball gamesThe action of a batsman being out.
   2. countableuncountableball gamesA defect in the ice which causes stones thrown into an area to drift in a given direction.
   3. countableuncountablegovernmentAn instance of a wrestler being pinned to the mat.
9. countableuncountableA hairpiece for women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended primarily to cover hair loss.

   Female patients with localized hair loss on the top of scalp could select a fall or a demiwig to camouflage crown and anterior scalp loss.

   2004, Zoe Diana Draelos, Hair Care: An Illustrated Dermatologic Handbook, →ISBN, page 202

10. UScountableinformaluncountableBlame or punishment for a failure or misdeed.

    He set up his rival to take the fall.

    Synonyms: rap

11. countableuncountablenauticalThe part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting (usu. plural).

    Have the goodness to secure the falls of the mizzen halyards.

    1 more example

    "[...] with one overhauled fall flying and an iron-bound block capering in the air."

    1919, Joseph Conrad, Typhoon

12. countableuncountableAn old Scots unit of measure equal to six ells.
13. countableuncountableA short, flexible piece of leather forming part of a bullwhip, placed between the thong and the cracker.

    Brooks fitted a new fall to his whip.

    1945, Tom Ronan, Strangers on the Ophir, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 113

14. countableuncountableThe lid, on a piano, that covers the keyboard.
15. collectivecountableuncountableA group of woodcock, especially appearing suddenly, as if overnight.

    there had been a great fall of woodcock in the night

    1876, John Barker, Syria and Egypt Under the Last Five Sultans of Turkey, Tinsley, page 156

    2 more examples

    hen I was spending October on the East Anglian coast, there was a great fall of woodcock

    1906 October 17, S. L. Benusan, “The Week-end Papers”, in The Sketch, Ingram Brothers, page 18

    There'll be another frost tonight and no doubt another fall of woodcock in the covers in the morning.

    1938 October, “The gentle art of squirrel-shooting”, in Reginald Townsend Townsend, editor, Country Life and the Sportsman, volume 74, Country Life-American Home Corporation

1. nauticalThe cry given when a whale is sighted, or harpooned.

plural falls

1. nauticalThe chasing of a hunted whale.

1. lifestyleThe sudden fall of humanity into a state of sin, as brought about by the transgression of Adam and Eve.First known use 14th c.

plural Falls

1. A surname.