fall to

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

1. datedintransitiveTo enter into or begin an activity, especially with enthusiasm or commitment and especially in regard to the activities of eating or drinking.

   Titus: Come, let's fall to; and, gentle girl, eat this.

   c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

   4 more examples

   In the middle of it, in front of the little public house, stood, all that day and the next, a group of men and women, for no five minutes in its component parts the same, but, like a cloud, ever slow dissolving, and as continuously reforming, some dropping away, others falling to.

   1877, George MacDonald, chapter 54, in The Marquis of Lossie

   [H]e is interrupted by the arrival of a hamper of wine . . . upon the receipt of which he sends for three friends, and they fall to instantly, drinking two bottles apiece.

   1879, Anthony Trollope, chapter 7, in William Makepeace Thackeray

   [T]he floor was thick with a litter of rubbish. . . . Duncan surveyed it ruefully, but with the will to do strong in him, took off his coat, turned up his trousers, and fell to.

   1910, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter 9, in The Fortune Hunter

   Many a reader whose appetite rejoices in hearty fare tucked in his napkin, smacked his lips and fell to with a will.

   1934 March 26, "Books: Hurstwurst" (book review of Anitra's Dance by Fannie Hurst), Time (retrieved 1 May 2014)

2. datedtransitiveTo succumb to (a prank or trick); to fall for (something).

   Synonyms: dig in, go for it