FALL (fallen, fell)

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Fall mean? 

• FALL (noun)
  The noun FALL has 12 senses:

1. the season when the leaves fall from the trees

2. a sudden drop from an upright position

3. the lapse of mankind into sinfulness because of the sin of Adam and Eve

4. a downward slope or bend

5. a lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity

6. a sudden decline in strength or number or importance

7. a movement downward

8. the act of surrendering (usually under agreed conditions)

9. the time of day immediately following sunset

10. when a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat

11. a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity

12. a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity

  Familiarity information: FALL used as a noun is familiar.

• FALL (verb)
  The verb FALL has 32 senses:

1. descend in free fall under the influence of gravity

2. move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way

3. pass suddenly and passively into a state of body or mind

4. come under, be classified or included

5. fall from clouds

6. suffer defeat, failure, or ruin

7. die, as in battle or in a hunt

8. touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly

9. be captured

10. occur at a specified time or place

11. decrease in size, extent, or range

12. yield to temptation or sin

13. lose office or power

14. to be given by assignment or distribution

15. move in a specified direction

16. be due

17. lose one's chastity

18. to be given by right or inheritance

19. come into the possession of

20. fall to somebody by assignment or lot

21. be inherited by

22. slope downward

23. lose an upright position suddenly

24. drop oneself to a lower or less erect position

25. fall or flow in a certain way

26. assume a disappointed or sad expression

27. be cast down

28. come out; issue

29. be born, used chiefly of lambs

30. begin vigorously

31. go as if by falling

32. come as if by falling

  Familiarity information: FALL used as a verb is very familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FALL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The season when the leaves fall from the trees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

autumn; fall

Context example:

in the fall of 1973

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

season; time of year (one of the natural periods into which the year is divided by the equinoxes and solstices or atmospheric conditions)

Meronyms (parts of "fall"):

Indian summer; Saint Martin's summer (a period of unusually warm weather in the autumn)

autumnal equinox; fall equinox; September equinox (September 22)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A sudden drop from an upright position

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

fall; spill; tumble

Context example:

he had a nasty spill on the ice

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

slip; trip (an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fall"):

wipeout (a spill in some sport (as a fall from a bicycle or while skiing or being capsized on a surfboard))

pratfall (a fall onto your buttocks)

Derivation:

fall (descend in free fall under the influence of gravity)

fall (drop oneself to a lower or less erect position)

fall (lose an upright position suddenly)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The lapse of mankind into sinfulness because of the sin of Adam and Eve

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

women have been blamed ever since the Fall

Instance hypernyms:

event (something that happens at a given place and time)

Derivation:

fall (yield to temptation or sin)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A downward slope or bend

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

declension; declination; decline; declivity; descent; downslope; fall

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

incline; side; slope (an elevated geological formation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fall"):

downhill (the downward slope of a hill)

steep (a steep place (as on a hill))

Derivation:

fall (slope downward)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

a fall from virtue

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

sin; sinning (an act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of God's will)

Derivation:

fall (yield to temptation or sin)

fall (lose one's chastity)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A sudden decline in strength or number or importance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

downfall; fall

Context example:

the fall of the House of Hapsburg

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

weakening (becoming weaker)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fall"):

anticlimax (a disappointing decline after a previous rise)

Antonym:

rise (a growth in strength or number or importance)

Derivation:

fall (lose office or power)

fall (suffer defeat, failure, or ruin)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A movement downward

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

the rise and fall of the tides

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

change of location; travel (a movement through space that changes the location of something)

Antonym:

rise (a movement upward)

Derivation:

fall (move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way)

Sense 8

Meaning:

The act of surrendering (usually under agreed conditions)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

capitulation; fall; surrender

Context example:

they were protected until the capitulation of the fort

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

loss (the act of losing someone or something)

Derivation:

fall (lose office or power)

fall (be captured)

fall (suffer defeat, failure, or ruin)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The time of day immediately following sunset

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

crepuscle; crepuscule; dusk; evenfall; fall; gloam; gloaming; nightfall; twilight

Context example:

they finished before the fall of night

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

hour; time of day (clock time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fall"):

night (a shortening of nightfall)

Holonyms ("fall" is a part of...):

eve; even; evening; eventide (the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall))

Sense 10

Meaning:

When a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

fall; pin

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

triumph; victory (a successful ending of a struggle or contest)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fall"):

takedown ((amateur wrestling) being brought to the mat from a standing position)

Holonyms ("fall" is a part of...):

wrestling match (a match between wrestlers)

Sense 11

Meaning:

A free and rapid descent by the force of gravity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

drop; fall

Context example:

it was a miracle that he survived the drop from that height

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

gravitation (movement downward resulting from gravitational attraction)

descent (a movement downward)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fall"):

free fall (the ideal falling motion of something subject only to a gravitational field)

plunge (a steep and rapid fall)

precipitation (the act of casting down or falling headlong from a height)

Derivation:

fall (lose an upright position suddenly)

fall (descend in free fall under the influence of gravity)

Sense 12

Meaning:

A sudden sharp decrease in some quantity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

dip; drop; fall; free fall

Context example:

when that became known the price of their stock went into free fall

Hypernyms ("fall" is a kind of...):

decrease; decrement (the amount by which something decreases)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fall"):

correction (a drop in stock market activity or stock prices following a period of increases)

voltage drop (a decrease in voltage along a conductor through which current is flowing)

Derivation:

fall (decrease in size, extent, or range)

• FALL (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Descend in free fall under the influence of gravity

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The unfortunate hiker fell into a crevasse

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Verb group:

come down; fall; precipitate (fall from clouds)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fall (a sudden drop from an upright position)

fall (a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity)

faller (a person who falls)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

come down; descend; fall; go down

Context example:

Her hand went up and then fell again

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall"):

cascade; cascade down (rush down in big quantities, like a cascade)

drip (fall in drops)

pounce; swoop (move down on as if in an attack)

go down; go under; settle; sink (go under)

alight; climb down (come down)

pitch (fall or plunge forward)

plop (drop with the sound of something falling into water)

precipitate (fall vertically, sharply, or headlong)

drop (to fall vertically)

topple; tumble (fall down, as if collapsing)

crash (fall or come down violently)

prolapse (slip or fall out of place, as of body parts)

abseil; rappel; rope down (descend by means of a rappel)

dismount; get down; get off; light; unhorse (alight from (a horse))

avalanche; roll down (gather into a huge mass and roll down a mountain, of snow)

dive; plunge; plunk (drop steeply)

go down; go under; set (disappear beyond the horizon)

correct; decline; slump (go down in value)

sink; subside (descend into or as if into some soft substance or place)

flop (fall suddenly and abruptly)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

The airplane is sure to fall

Antonym:

rise (move upward)

Also:

fall in (break down, literally or metaphorically)

Derivation:

fall (a movement downward)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Pass suddenly and passively into a state of body or mind

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

she fell to pieces after she lost her work

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Also:

drop away; drop off; fall away; slip (get worse)

break; come apart; fall apart; separate; split up (become separated into pieces or fragments)

crumble; fall apart (break or fall apart into fragments)

drop off; fall back; fall behind; recede (retreat)

dawdle; fall back; fall behind; lag (hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.)

fall flat; fall through; flop; founder (fail utterly; collapse)

fall for (be deceived, duped, or entrapped by)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall"):

drop (fall or sink into a state of exhaustion or death)

fall in love (begin to experience feelings of love towards)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Something ----s Adjective/Noun
Somebody ----s Adjective
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Come under, be classified or included

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

come; fall

Context example:

This comes under a new heading

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Fall from clouds

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

come down; fall; precipitate

Context example:

Vesuvius precipitated its fiery, destructive rage on Herculaneum

"Fall" entails doing...:

condense; distil; distill (undergo condensation; change from a gaseous to a liquid state and fall in drops)

Verb group:

fall (descend in free fall under the influence of gravity)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall"):

rain; rain down (precipitate as rain)

spat (come down like raindrops)

snow (fall as snow)

hail (precipitate as small ice particles)

sleet (precipitate as a mixture of rain and snow)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Suffer defeat, failure, or ruin

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

fall by the wayside

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

fail; go wrong; miscarry (be unsuccessful)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fall (the act of surrendering (usually under agreed conditions))

fall (a sudden decline in strength or number or importance)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Die, as in battle or in a hunt

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

The shooting victim fell dead

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

buy the farm; cash in one's chips; choke; conk; croak; decease; die; drop dead; exit; expire; give-up the ghost; go; kick the bucket; pass; pass away; perish; pop off; snuff it (pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life)

Verb group:

fall (be captured)

fall (lose office or power)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 8

Meaning:

Touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

fall; shine; strike

Context example:

A strange sound struck my ears

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 9

Meaning:

Be captured

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

The cities fell to the enemy

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

yield (cease opposition; stop fighting)

Verb group:

fall (die, as in battle or in a hunt)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

fall (the act of surrendering (usually under agreed conditions))

Sense 10

Meaning:

Occur at a specified time or place

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The accent falls on the first syllable

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

Verb group:

fall (be due)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 11

Meaning:

Decrease in size, extent, or range

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

decrease; diminish; fall; lessen

Context example:

his voice fell to a whisper

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

change magnitude (change in size or magnitude)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall"):

decrescendo (grow quieter)

decelerate; retard; slow; slow down; slow up (lose velocity; move more slowly)

wane (become smaller)

wane (decrease in phase)

decline; go down; wane (grow smaller)

thin out (become sparser)

shorten (become short or shorter)

depreciate; devaluate; devalue; undervalue (lose in value)

de-escalate (diminish in size, scope, or intensity)

remit (diminish or abate)

dwindle; dwindle away; dwindle down (become smaller or lose substance)

deflate (become deflated or flaccid, as by losing air)

shrink; shrivel; shrivel up; wither (wither, as with a loss of moisture)

abate; die away; let up; slack; slack off (become less in amount or intensity)

break (diminish or discontinue abruptly)

shrink; shrivel (decrease in size, range, or extent)

taper (diminish gradually)

drop off (fall or diminish)

fly; vanish; vaporize (decrease rapidly and disappear)

break (fall sharply)

ease off; ease up; flag; slacken off (become less intense)

weaken (become weaker)

boil down; concentrate; decoct; reduce (be cooked until very little liquid is left)

contract; shrink (become smaller or draw together)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

fall (a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity)

Sense 12

Meaning:

Yield to temptation or sin

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

Adam and Eve fell

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

sin; transgress; trespass (commit a sin; violate a law of God or a moral law)

fall (lose one's chastity)

Verb group:

fall (lose one's chastity)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fall (a lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity)

Fall (the lapse of mankind into sinfulness because of the sin of Adam and Eve)

Sense 13

Meaning:

Lose office or power

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

The Qing Dynasty fell with Sun Yat-sen

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

leave office; quit; resign; step down (give up or retire from a position)

Verb group:

fall (die, as in battle or in a hunt)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fall (the act of surrendering (usually under agreed conditions))

fall (a sudden decline in strength or number or importance)

Sense 14

Meaning:

To be given by assignment or distribution

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

The pressure to succeed fell on the youngest student

Verb group:

fall; light (fall to somebody by assignment or lot)

fall (to be given by right or inheritance)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 15

Meaning:

Move in a specified direction

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The line of men fall forward

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 16

Meaning:

Be due

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

payments fall on the 1st of the month

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Verb group:

fall (occur at a specified time or place)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 17

Meaning:

Lose one's chastity

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

a fallen woman

Verb group:

fall (yield to temptation or sin)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall"):

fall (yield to temptation or sin)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fall (a lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity)

Sense 18

Meaning:

To be given by right or inheritance

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

The estate fell to the oldest daughter

Verb group:

fall (to be given by assignment or distribution)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 19

Meaning:

Come into the possession of

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

accrue; fall

Context example:

The house accrued to the oldest son

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

change hands; change owners (be transferred to another owner)

Verb group:

devolve; fall; pass; return (be inherited by)

fall; light (fall to somebody by assignment or lot)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 20

Meaning:

Fall to somebody by assignment or lot

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

fall; light

Context example:

It fell to me to notify the parents of the victims

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

devolve; fall; pass; return (be inherited by)

Verb group:

accrue; fall (come into the possession of)

fall (to be given by assignment or distribution)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sense 21

Meaning:

Be inherited by

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

devolve; fall; pass; return

Context example:

The estate devolved to an heir that everybody had assumed to be dead

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

change hands; change owners (be transferred to another owner)

Verb group:

accrue; fall (come into the possession of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall"):

fall; light (fall to somebody by assignment or lot)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 22

Meaning:

Slope downward

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The hills around here fall towards the ocean

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

incline; pitch; slope (be at an angle)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

fall (a downward slope or bend)

Sense 23

Meaning:

Lose an upright position suddenly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

fall; fall down

Context example:

Her hair fell across her forehead

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

change posture (undergo a change in bodily posture)

Verb group:

fall (drop oneself to a lower or less erect position)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fall (a sudden drop from an upright position)

fall (a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity)

Sense 24

Meaning:

Drop oneself to a lower or less erect position

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

He fell to his knees

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

change posture (undergo a change in bodily posture)

Verb group:

fall; fall down (lose an upright position suddenly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

fall (a sudden drop from an upright position)

Sense 25

Meaning:

Fall or flow in a certain way

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

fall; flow; hang

Context example:

Her long black hair flowed down her back

Sentence frame:

Something ----s Adjective/Noun

Sense 26

Meaning:

Assume a disappointed or sad expression

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

his crest fell

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

fall (be cast down)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 27

Meaning:

Be cast down

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

his eyes fell

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

fall (assume a disappointed or sad expression)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 28

Meaning:

Come out; issue

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

silly phrases fell from her mouth

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

come forth; come out; egress; emerge; go forth; issue (come out of)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 29

Meaning:

Be born, used chiefly of lambs

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The lambs fell in the afternoon

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

be born (come into existence through birth)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 30

Meaning:

Begin vigorously

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The prisoners fell to work right away

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

begin; commence; get; get down; set about; set out; start; start out (take the first step or steps in carrying out an action)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sense 31

Meaning:

Go as if by falling

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Grief fell from our hearts

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

disappear; go away; vanish (get lost, as without warning or explanation)

Verb group:

descend; fall; settle (come as if by falling)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 32

Meaning:

Come as if by falling

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

descend; fall; settle

Context example:

Silence fell

Hypernyms (to "fall" is one way to...):

come (come to pass; arrive, as in due course)

Verb group:

fall (go as if by falling)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

He did not know what a fall was.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Rain had fallen on the night before and we examined the lawn and the paths all round the house, but in vain.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then the cat said, “Take me with you,” Chanticleer said, “With all my heart: get up behind, and be sure you do not fall off.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Other important factors for fish diversity are climate stability and the availability of nutrients from fruits, branches and leaves that fall from nearby trees.

(Amazon fish ‘face new threats’, SciDev.Net)

However, while screen time increased throughout toddlerhood, by age 7 and 8, screen time fell to under 1.5 hours per day.

(High amounts of screen time begin as early as infancy, National Institutes of Health)

Beth and Amy soon fell asleep in spite of the great trouble, but Meg lay awake, thinking the most serious thoughts she had ever known in her short life.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

"Normally the dust would fall down in a day or so," said the paper's lead author, Nicholas Heavens of Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.

(Global Storms on Mars Launch Dust Towers Into the Sky, NASA)

Every year during spring and fall migration, tens of millions of birds take flight at sunset and pass over our heads, unseen in the night sky.

(Using artificial intelligence to track birds' dark-of-night migrations, National Science Foundation)

"Cal-ee-forn-ee-yeh," he mumbled twice and thrice, listening intently to the sound of the syllables as they fell from his lips. He nodded his head in confirmation.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Therefore she did as she was told, and did it with such nervous hands that her hair (which was luxuriant and beautiful) fell all about her face.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)