fall over oneself

present singular third person falls over oneself · participle present falling over oneself · past fell over oneself · participle past fallen over oneself

1. To be unusually enthusiastic.

   On the contrary, instead of wholeheartedly defending Chase, Marshall fell over himself to accommodate his accusers.

   2007, Jeffrey Rosen, The Supreme Court: The personalities and rivalries that defined America, →ISBN, page 53

   3 more examples

   Catholic families in the town were falling over themselves in their anxiety to invite the young Franciscans to come and sit in their parlors and be made much of, with cookies and soft drinks.

   1948, Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain, published 1999, →ISBN, page 317

   As long as we don't fall over ourselves to congratulate our adolescent every time she wipes her feet on the mat, a well-placed and consistent "thank you," a compliment, or a sign of appreciation can go a long way.

   2004, David Walsh, Why Do They Act That Way?, Free Press, published 2005, →ISBN, page 250

   Go back in history and it's probably the Victorian era when we last saw five new stations opening within weeks of each other in the West Midlands. Then, private companies were falling over themselves to build new lines and stations serving rapidly growing populations and industry.

   2026 April 1, Peter Plisner, “Five-star: Midlands stations now open”, in RAIL, number 1058, page 38