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fall

verb
/fɔːl/UK/faːl//fɔl/US

Etymology

Verb from Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan (“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallan (“to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- (“to collapse, fall; to destroy”). Cognates Cognate with Scots faw (“to fall”), Yola vale, vall, vole (“to fall”), North Frisian faal, fåle (“to fall”), Saterland Frisian faale (“to fall”), West Frisian falle (“to fall”), Bavarian foin (“to fall”), Cimbrian ballan, vallan (“to fall”), Dutch vallen (“to fall”), German and Low German fallen (“to fall”), Luxembourgish falen (“to fall”), Yiddish פֿאַלן (faln, “to fall”), Danish falde (“to fall”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish falla (“to fall”), Norwegian Bokmål falle (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk falla, falle (“to fall”); also Latin aboleō (“to destroy; to die”), Ancient Greek ὄλλῡμι (óllūmi, “to destroy; to lose”), Armenian եղեռն (eġeṙn, “crime; calamity, catastrophe; slaughter”), Lithuanian pùlti (“to fall; to attack, assault”). Noun from Middle English fal, fall, falle, from Old English feall, ġefeall (“a falling, fall”) and Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”). Cognate with Yola vall (“fall”), Dutch val (“fall”), German Fall (“fall”), Danish fald (“fall”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish fall (“fall”). Sense of "autumn" is attested by the 1660s in England as a shortening of fall of the leaf (1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along with autumn, it mostly replaced the older name harvest as that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Compare spring, which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.

  1. inherited from *fallą✻
  2. inherited from fealle — “trap, snare”
  3. inherited from feall
  4. inherited from fal
  5. inherited from *h₃elh₁-✻ — “to collapse, fall; to destroy”
  6. inherited from *fallaną✻ — “to fall”
  7. inherited from *fallan✻ — “to fall”
  8. inherited from feallan — “to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”
  9. inherited from fallen

Definitions

  1. To be moved downwards.

    • Thrown from a cliff, the stone fell 100 feet before hitting the ground.
    • I fell unconscious on the floor.
    • There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

  2. To move downwards.

    • For every tear he falls, a Trojan bleeds.
    • Ghoaſt [of Clarence]. […] / To morrow in the battaile thinke on me, / And fall thy edgeleſſe ſword, diſpaire and die.

  3. To change, often negatively.

    • Near-synonyms: become, get, go, turn, come, grow, wax
    • She has fallen ill.
    • The children fell asleep in the back of the car.
  4. ›+ 30 more definitions

    1. To occur (on a certain day of the week, date, or similar)

      To occur (on a certain day of the week, date, or similar); to happen.

      • Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday.
      • Last year, Commencement fell on June 3.
      • (Thus D-day fell on June 6 rather than the planned June 5.)

    2. To be allotted to

      To be allotted to; to arrive through chance, fate, or inheritance.

      • And so it falls to me to make this important decision.
      • The estate fell to his brother.
      • The kingdom fell into the hands of his rivals.

    3. To diminish

      To diminish; to lessen or lower.

      • Upon lessening interest to four per cent, you fall the price of your native commodities.

    4. To bring forth.

      • to fall lambs
      • The shepherd[…]did[…] fall part-colour'd lambs

    5. To issue forth into life

      To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; said of the young of certain animals.

      • As for Calves newly fallen, you must leave them with good Litter of fresh Straw until such qime as the Cows have licked and cleansed them,
      • My intended remarks are on the cords , and wiping dry the newly fallen calf

    6. To descend in character or reputation

      To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin.

      • Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

    7. To become ensnared or entrapped

      To become ensnared or entrapped; to be worse off than before.

      • to fall into error;  to fall into difficulties;  to fall into ruin

    8. To assume a look of shame or disappointment

      To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; said of the face.

      • Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
      • I have observed of late thy looks are fallen.

    9. To happen

      To happen; to come to pass; to chance or light (upon).

      • Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.
      • […]An the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him.

    10. To begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence

      To begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence; to rush or hurry.

      • After arguing, they fell to blows.
      • They now no longer doubted, but fell to work heart and soul.

    11. To be dropped or uttered carelessly.

      • An unguarded expression fell from his lips.

    12. To hang down (under the influence of gravity).

      • Her hair, which curled naturally, fell all over her shoulders.
      • An Empire-style dress has a high waistline – directly under the bust – from which the dress falls all the way to a hem as low as the floor.

    13. To visit

      To visit; to go to a place.

      • We'll fall over to the club tonight.

    14. The act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity.

      • the fall of the snow
      • the fall of the water
      • the fall of the leaf

    15. A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.

      • “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.

    16. The time of the year when the leaves typically fall from the trees

      The time of the year when the leaves typically fall from the trees; autumn; the season of the year between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.

    17. A loss of greatness or status.

      • the fall of Rome

    18. That which falls or cascades.

      • A fall of hair tumbled down one side of her body like a veil.
      • The heat of Daniel's gaze was nearly incendiary as he took in the fall of her hair spilling across her shoulders and down to her elbows.

    19. The height of that which falls or cascades.

    20. A crucial event or circumstance.

    21. A hairpiece for women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended…

      A hairpiece for women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended primarily to cover hair loss.

      • Female patients with localized hair loss on the top of scalp could select a fall or a demiwig to camouflage crown and anterior scalp loss.

    22. Blame or punishment for a failure or misdeed.

      • He set up his rival to take the fall.

    23. The part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting (usu. plural).

      • Have the goodness to secure the falls of the mizzen halyards.
      • "[...] with one overhauled fall flying and an iron-bound block capering in the air."

    24. An old Scots unit of measure equal to six ells.

    25. A short, flexible piece of leather forming part of a bullwhip, placed between the thong…

      A short, flexible piece of leather forming part of a bullwhip, placed between the thong and the cracker.

      • Brooks fitted a new fall to his whip.

    26. The lid, on a piano, that covers the keyboard.

    27. The cry given when a whale is sighted, or harpooned.

    28. The chasing of a hunted whale.

    29. The sudden fall of humanity into a state of sin, as brought about by the transgression of…

      The sudden fall of humanity into a state of sin, as brought about by the transgression of Adam and Eve.

    30. A surname.

The neighborhood

  • antonymascendantonym(s) of “come down”
  • antonymgo upantonym(s) of “come down”
  • antonymriseantonym(s) of “come down”
  • antonymget upantonym(s) of “come to the ground deliberately”
  • antonympick oneself upantonym(s) of “come to the ground deliberately”
  • antonymstand upantonym(s) of “come to the ground deliberately”
  • antonymbeatcollapse, be overthrown or defeated
  • antonymdefeatcollapse, be overthrown or defeated
  • antonymoverthrowcollapse, be overthrown or defeated
  • antonymsmitecollapse, be overthrown or defeated
  • antonymvanquishcollapse, be overthrown or defeated
  • antonymascentantonym(s) of “act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity”
  • neighborfalls

Derived

almost fall off one's chair, fall off one's chair, nearly fall off one's chair, atfall, befall, bottom falls out, catch a falling knife, easy as falling off a log, fair fall, fallable, fall aboard, fall aboard of, fall about, fall about someone's ears, fall about the place, fall abreast of, fall abroad of, fall across, fall adown, fall afire, fall afoul, fall afoul of, fall after, fallage, fall all over someone or oneself, fall among, fall apart, fall around, fall asleep, fall aslope, fall astern, fall asunder, fall at, fall at the crest, fall at the final hurdle, fall at the first fence, fall at the first hurdle, fall at the last hurdle, fall away, fall back · +409 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at fall. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01fall02downwards03towards04preparation05readiness06ready07happen08befall

A definitional loop anchored at fall. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at fall

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA