fall back

present singular third person falls back · participle present falling back · past fell back · participle past fallen back

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see fall, back.
2. To retreat.

   The bugler [Triton] obeyed, and putting the shell to his lips he blew from his puffed cheeks such a blast that at the sound of it all the waves and rivers fell back and left the land high and dry.

   1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 150

   Synonyms: ebb, ebb away, recede, retreat

3. To fail to fulfill a promise or purpose.
4. To turn the clocks back for the end of daylight saving time.