FALL BACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fall back mean? 

• FALL BACK (verb)
  The verb FALL BACK has 6 senses:

1. fall backwards and down

2. hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.

3. move back and away from

4. retreat

5. have recourse to

6. go back to bad behavior

  Familiarity information: FALL BACK used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FALL BACK (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fall backwards and down

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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

lean back; recline (move the upper body backwards and down)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

dawdle; fall back; fall behind; lag

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

follow (to travel behind, go after, come after)

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

drag; drop back; drop behind; get behind; hang back; trail (to lag or linger behind)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move back and away from

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The enemy fell back

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

draw back; move back; pull away; pull back; recede; retire; retreat; withdraw (pull back or move away or backward)

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

ebb; ebb away; ebb down; ebb off; ebb out (flow back or recede)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

fallback (to break off a military action with an enemy)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Retreat

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

drop off; fall back; fall behind; recede

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

regress; retrograde; retrogress (get worse or fall back to a previous condition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Antonym:

gain (obtain advantages, such as points, etc.)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Have recourse to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

fall back; recur; resort

Context example:

The government resorted to rationing meat

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

apply; employ; use; utilise; utilize (put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Go back to bad behavior

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

fall back; lapse; recidivate; regress; relapse; retrogress

Context example:

Those who recidivate are often minor criminals

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

regress; retrovert; return; revert; turn back (go back to a previous state)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

Oh, don't fall back on over-modesty!

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A new study reports how the mechanism works: When fossil fuels are burned, sulfuric and nitric acid eventually fall back to earth in rain and snow, causing acidification of the soil.

(Previously unknown mechanism causes increased forest water use, National Science Foundation)

Yet we must exhaust all natural explanations before we fall back upon such a theory as this.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Once it tottered, about to fall back, but the broken hold was regained and it still went up.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Of course, we always have the optician clue to fall back upon, but I take a short cut when I can get it.

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

Relieved of their first anxiety about their father, the girls insensibly relaxed their praiseworthy efforts a little, and began to fall back into old ways.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Signs and symptoms include tremor which is most pronounced during rest, muscle rigidity, slowing of the voluntary movements, a tendency to fall back, and a mask-like facial expression.

(Parkinson's Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

There was a tiny fountain in the middle of the room, that shot a spray of green perfume into the air, to fall back into a beautifully carved green marble basin.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

If an enemy landed upon our shores it was then that, with our small army, we should be forced to fall back upon native valour trained into hardihood by the practice and contemplation of manly sports.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You are no stranger to the fact, that there have been periods of my life, when it has been requisite that I should pause, until certain expected events should turn up; when it has been necessary that I should fall back, before making what I trust I shall not be accused of presumption in terming—a spring.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)