Meanings
plural forcefalls
- rareliteral or figurativeA waterfall or cascading torrent.
For down from His heights, marking the descent by "forcefalls" as a river marks declivities in its bed by cataracts, comes this supreme power; […]
1924, Frederick Spencer Oliver, A Dweller on Two Planets, page 641 more example
Tops of sweet birch snap strong and stiff like bones busting against bats or the sides of heads slapping concrete through the forcefall that takes a score more limbs before piercing top soil like carelessly falling arrows.
1990, Gladys Goring Johnson, December, volume 33, page 82Synonyms: waterfall
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA waterfall or cascading torrent.
Origin
- Old Norseforsfall“waterfall, torrent”
- Middle English*forsfal
- Englishforcefall
From Middle English *forsfal, from Old Norse forsfall (“waterfall, torrent”), equivalent to force (“waterfall”) + fall. Compare Icelandic fossfall (“waterfall, torrent”).
More words from Middle English, Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
forcefall. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forcefall
“forcefall.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forcefall. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forcefall,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forcefall.
Source: forcefall on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.