FALL IN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fall in mean? 

• FALL IN (verb)
  The verb FALL IN has 3 senses:

1. break down, literally or metaphorically

2. to take one's place in a military formation or line

3. become part of; become a member of a group or organization

  Familiarity information: FALL IN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FALL IN (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Break down, literally or metaphorically

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

break; cave in; collapse; fall in; founder; give; give way

Context example:

The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice

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

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

Verb group:

abandon; give up (stop maintaining or insisting on; of ideas or claims)

burst; collapse (cause to burst)

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

go off; implode (burst inward)

buckle; crumple (fold or collapse)

flop (fall loosely)

break (curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves)

sink; slide down; slump (fall or sink heavily)

Sentence frames:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

To take one's place in a military formation or line

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

Troops fall in!

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become part of; become a member of a group or organization

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

fall in; get together; join

Context example:

He joined the Communist Party as a young man

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

sign up (join a club, an activity, etc. with the intention to join or participate)

band oneself; league together (attach oneself to a group)

organise; organize; unionise; unionize (form or join a union)

affiliate (join in an affiliation)

rejoin (join again)

infiltrate; penetrate (enter a group or organization in order to spy on the members)

unify; unite (act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

Whenever I fall into trouble, or fall in love, I shall always tell you, if you'll let me—even when I come to fall in love in earnest.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The new moon on November 26 will fall in Sagittarius at four degrees, and it will go much further to jazz your daily work sector.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

It would trouble me sadly to make him unhappy, for I couldn't fall in love with the dear old fellow merely out of gratitude, could I?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Did the horse fall in Hay Lane?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I therefore pretended to fall in with his views, and asked him what dates I should put on the letters.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The total income, which at the time of the wife’s death was little short of £ 1,100, is now, through the fall in agricultural prices, not more than £ 750.

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

But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

And when he got to the well and stooped over the water to drink, the heavy stones made him fall in, and he drowned miserably.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

A new study suggests that most global climate models may underestimate the amount of rain that will fall in Earth’s tropical regions as our planet continues to warm.

(NASA Data Suggest Future May Be Rainier Than Expected, NASA)

Would it be possible for me to inspect the train which contained the passenger who heard the thud of a fall in the fog?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)