fall has definitions from the fields of sport,religion,biology,geography
1
[ verb ] descend in free fall under the influence of gravity

Examples

"The branch fell from the tree" "The unfortunate hiker fell into a crevasse"

Used in print

(Tom F. Driver, "Beckett by the Madeleine,"...)

Unruly hair goes straight up from his forehead , standing so high that the top falls gently over , as if to show that it really is hair and not bristle .

(Helen Hooven Santmyer, "There Were Fences"...)

Three of these only were protected from us by stern commandment : the roses , whose petals might_not be collected until they had fallen , to be made into perfume or rose tea to drink ; the peonies , whose tight sticky buds would be blighted by the laying_on of_a finger , although they were not apparently harmed by the ants that crawled over them ; and the poppies .

(Ralph J. Salisbury, "On the Old Santa Fe Trail...)

When I fell on my back , I saw a vulture hovering .

(Morley Callaghan, A Passion in Rome....)

The cleansing tissues she had been using had been falling on the floor , and he got_up and picked_up one , then another , hoping she would notice what he was doing .

Related terms

travel precipitate spill

2
[ verb ] move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way

Examples

"The temperature is going down" "The barometer is falling" "The curtain fell on the diva" "Her hand went up and then fell again"

Used in print

(Bonnie Prudden, "The Dancer and the Gymnast"...)

Fall slowly forward onto the hands and let the body down to rest_on the floor .

Start by falling forward to a point close to the feet , and , as strength improves , fall farther and farther out .

Start by falling forward to a point close to the feet , and , as strength improves , fall farther and farther out .

(David Stacton, The Judges of the Secret Court....)

The figure leapt from the box , almost lost its balance , the flag draped there tore in the air , the figure landed on its left leg , fell on its hands , and pressed itself up .

(Gerald Green, The Heartless Light....)

Gazing at her husband 's drugged body , his chest rising and falling in mindless rhythms , she saw the grandeur of his fictional world , that lush garden from which he plucked flowers and herbs .

3
[ verb ] pass suddenly and passively into a state of body or mind

Examples

"fall into a trap" "She fell ill" "They fell out of favor" "Fall in love" "fall asleep" "fall prey to an imposter" "fall into a strange way of thinking" "she fell to pieces"

Used in print

(The New York Times,...)

From the standpoint of the army of duffers , however , this was easily the most heartening exhibition they had had since Ben_Hogan fell upon evil ways during his heyday and scored an 11 in the Texas_open .

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch,...)

The '49 team was off to a so-so 5 - 5 beginning , then fell as low as 12 - 17 on May 23 before finishing with 96 victories .

(B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)

Even some of the queens will die before the winter is over , falling prey to enemies or disease .

(E. Lucas Myers, "The Vindication of Dr. Nestor,"...)

The market was not far and , once there , the doctor 's sense of immediacy left him and he fell into a state of harmony with the birds around him .

(James Thurber, "The Future, If Any, of Comedy,"...)

`` You and I have fallen out of literature into politics '' , Moreland observed .

4
[ noun ] the season when the leaves fall from the trees

Synonyms

autumn

Examples

"in the fall of 1973"

Used in print

(The Sun, [Baltimore],...)

Hartman , purchased by the A 's from the Milwaukee_Braves last fall , allowed no hits in his scoreless three inning appearance , and merited the triumph .

The 22 - year old southpaw enlisted earlier last fall than did Hansen .

(B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)

At the old nest , the queen will in the early fall cease to lay the fertilized eggs that will produce females .

But they are still enclosed in their larval cells and remain there throughout the summer , fall , and winter .

(Douglas Ashford, "Elections in Morocco: Progress...)

There followed a long and sometimes bitter discussion of the feasibility of elections for the fall of 1957 , in which it appears that the Minister_of_the_Interior took the most pessimistic view and that the Istiqlal was something less_than enthusiastic .

5
[ verb ] come under, be classified or included

Synonyms

come

Examples

"fall into a category" "This comes under a new heading"

Used in print

(Clifford H. Pope, The Giant Snakes....)

Lawrence_E_._Griffin gives measurements of nineteen young anacondas , presumably members of a brood , from `` South_America '' ; the extreme measurements of these fall between the lower_limit of the Brookfield brood and its average .

(Douglas Ashford, "Elections in Morocco: Progress...)

An analysis of the election falls naturally in four parts .

Related terms

be

6
[ verb ] suffer defeat, failure, or ruin

Examples

"We must stand or fall" "fall by the wayside"

Used in print

(Bern Dibner, "Oerstad and the Discovery of Electro...)

So impressive were those serious years of study at the university that Hans later wrote , `` to be perfectly free , the young man must revel in the great kingdom of thought and imagination ; there is a struggle there , in which , if he falls , it is easy for him to rise again , there is freedom of utterance there , which draws after it no irreparable consequences on society .

(Barry Goldwater, "A Foreign Policy for America"...)

The evidence suggests that foreign peoples believe the United_States is weaker than the Soviet_Union , and is bound to fall still further behind in the years ahead .

Related terms

fail capitulation

7
[ noun ] a sudden drop from an upright position

Synonyms

tumble spill

Examples

"he had a nasty spill on the ice"

Used in print

(Bonnie Prudden, "The Dancer and the Gymnast"...)

This will prevent flat falls and toe injuries .

(Frieda Arkin, "The Light of the Sea," in The...)

Jessica_Packard lifted her head and followed the retreating figure , her eyes resting nearly closed on the unself-conscious rise and fall of the rounded hips .

(Richard Ferber, Bitter Valley....)

She came_down against him , and he tried to break her fall .

(James Thurber, "The Future, If Any, of Comedy,"...)

`` What a nasty fall was there '' !

Related terms

slip wipeout tumble topple tumble

8
[ verb ] fall from clouds

Examples

"rain, snow and sleet were falling" "Vesuvius precipitated its fiery, destructive rage on Herculaneum."

Used in print

(Robert Penn Warren, Wilderness....)

Adam watched his own hands make the caressing , anxious movement that , when rain falls and nobody comes , and ruin draws_close like a cat rubbing against the ankles , has been the ritual of stall vendors , forever .

It was nothing to him if rain fell and nobody came .

9
[ verb ] touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly

Synonyms

strike shine

Examples

"Light fell on her face" "The sun shone on the fields" "The light struck the golden necklace" "A strange sound struck my ears"

Used in print

(Julia Newman, "Travel and Camera USA"...)

In any instance , you should determine the exposure according to the type of light which falls on most_of the subject_area .

(Modern Maturity, 4:6...)

Just let the rejection slips fall where they may , and keep_on plugging , and finally you will make the grade .

(Todhunter Ballard, The Night Riders....)

Barton turned_away , his eyes falling upon Rankin beside his horse .

Related terms

be anticipate happen

10
[ verb ] decrease in size, extent, or range

Examples

"The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester" "The cabin pressure fell dramatically" "her weight fall to under a hundred pounds" "his voice fell to a whisper"

Used in print

(E. Gellhorn, "Prolegomena to a theory of the emotions"...)

Consequently , if for any reason the hypothalamic excitability falls below the physiological level , the lessened hypothalamic cortical discharges lead to a diminished state of activity in the cortex with consequent reduction in the cortico-fugal discharges .

11
[ verb ] be captured

Examples

"The cities fell to the enemy"

Used in print

(Jaroslav Pelikan, The Shape of Death: life, death and...)

`` Along with the fruit they did also fall under the power of death , because they did eat in disobedience ; and disobedience to God entails death .

Related terms

yield capitulation

12
[ noun ] the lapse of mankind into sinfulness because of the sin of Adam and Eve

Examples

"women have been blamed ever since the Fall"

Used in print

(Jaroslav Pelikan, The Shape of Death: life, death and...)

Irenaeus does not claim pre-existence for the human soul ; therefore there is no need for him , as there is for Origen , to identify existence itself with the fall .

He does not mean to say that Adam lost the similitude of God and his immortality through the fall ; for he was created not exactly immortal , nor yet exactly mortal , but capable of immortality as_well_as of mortality .

(J. H. Hexter, "Thomas More: On the Margins...)

In that tradition communism lay a safe distance back in the age of innocence before the Fall of Man .

Related terms

event

13
[ verb ] occur at a specified time or place

Examples

"Christmas falls on a Monday this year" "The accent falls on the first syllable"

Used in print

(Frederick Mosteller et al., Probability with...)

Thus in the three dice example * * f , * * f , and the independence assumption implies that the probability that the three dice fall ace , not ace , ace in that order is ( 1 6 ) ( 5 6 ) ( 1 6 ) .

Related terms

anticipate happen

14
[ verb ] (biology) die, as in battle or in a hunt

Examples

"Many soldiers fell at Verdun" "Several deer have fallen to the same gun" "The shooting victim fell dead"

Used in print

(Jim Berry Pearson, The Maxwell Land Grant....)

With the first reports , Russell 's horse wheeled to the right and ran towards the buildings while Cook , followed by a hail of bullets , raced towards the arroyo of Salyer_'s_Canyon immediately in_front_of him , just reaching it as his horse fell .

Related terms

die

15
[ verb ] lose office or power

Examples

"The government fell overnight" "The Qing Dynasty fell with Sun Yat-sen"

Used in print

(Terence O'Donnell, "Evenings at the Bridge"...)

The Afghans invaded ; the Safavids fell from power ; the capital went elsewhere ; the desert encroached .

However , just_as all the buildings have not fallen and flowed back to their original mud , so the values which wanted them and saw that they were_built have not all disappeared .

Related terms

leave_office

16
[ noun ] (geography) a downward slope

Used in print

(Harry H. Hull, "The Normal Forces and Their Ther...)

A back pressure was then introduced , and the rise or fall of the material in the manometer indicated which was greater , the normal pressure in the block or the back pressure .

(Edwin L. Bigelow and Nancy H. Otis,...)

In November 1900 surveying was done under John_Marsden on the east mountains to ascertain if it would be possible to get sufficient water and fall to operate an electric power_plant .

17
[ verb ] to be given by assignment or distribution

Examples

"The most difficult task fell on the youngest member of the team" "The onus fell on us" "The pressure to succeed fell on the youngest student"

Used in print

(Clement Greenberg, "Collage" in his Art and...)

Through 1911 and 1912 , as the Cubist facet-plane 's tendency to adhere to the literal surface became harder and harder to deny , the task of keeping the surface at arm's_length fell all the more to eye-undeceiving contrivances .

18
[ noun ] (religion) a lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity

Examples

"a fall from virtue"

Used in print

(James Thurber, "The Future, If Any, of Comedy,"...)

`` What a nasty fall was there '' !

Related terms

sin

19
[ verb ] (religion) yield to temptation or sin "Adam and Eve fell"

Used in print

(Jaroslav Pelikan, The Shape of Death: life, death and...)

`` So_that the man should not have thoughts of grandeur , and become lifted_up , as if he had no lord , because of the dominion that had been given to him , and the freedom , fall into sin against God his Creator , overstepping his bounds , and take_up an attitude of self-conceited arrogance towards God , a law was given him by God , that he might know that he had for lord the lord of all .

Related terms

sin

20
[ noun ] the act of surrendering (under agreed conditions)

Examples

"they were protected until the capitulation of the fort"

Used in print

(Douglas Ashford, "Elections in Morocco: Progress...)

The P.D.I. and later the Popular_Movement protected the Istiqlal 's `` privileged position '' until the fall of Balafrej , and_then the Istiqlal used the same argument , which it had previously ignored , against the pro U.N.F.P. tendencies of the Ibrahim government .

Related terms

loss surrender capitulate

21
[ verb ] move in a specified direction

Examples

"The line of men fall forward"

Related terms

travel

22
[ noun ] a movement downward

Examples

"the rise and fall of the tides"

Used in print

(L. Don Leet and Florence J. Leet, editors, The World of...)

It consists_of a series of pipes and a pressure measuring chamber which record the rise and fall of the water surface .

23
[ noun ] a sudden decline in strength or number or importance

Synonyms

downfall

Examples

"the fall of the House of Hapsburg"

Used in print

(LeRoy Fothergill, "Biological Warfare", in Peter...)

They then point_out that with our present lack of knowledge of all the factors concerned in the rise and fall of epidemics , it is unlikely that a planned episode could be initiated .

Related terms

rise weakening anticlimax

24
[ verb ] to be given by right or inheritance

Examples

"The estate fell to the oldest daughter"

25
[ verb ] come into the possession of

Synonyms

accrue

Examples

"The house accrued to the oldest son"

Related terms

change_hands

26
[ verb ] be born, used chiefly of lambs

Examples

: "The lambs fell in the afternoon"

Related terms

be_born

27
[ verb ] begin vigorously

Examples

"The prisoners fell to work right away"

Related terms

begin

28
[ verb ] go as if by falling

Examples

"Grief fell from our hearts

Related terms

disappear

29
[ verb ] be cast down

Examples

"his eyes fell"

Related terms

change

30
[ verb ] come out; issue

Examples

"silly phrases fell from her mouth"

Related terms

issue

31
[ noun ] Last name, frequency rank in the U.S. is 8301
32
[ verb ] fall or flow in a certain way

Synonyms

hang flow

Examples

"This dress hangs well" "Her long black hair flowed down her back"

Related terms

hang

33
[ verb ] assume a disappointed or sad expression

Examples

"Her face fell when she heard that she would be laid off" "his crest fell"

Related terms

change

34
[ noun ] the time of day immediately following sunset

Examples

"he loved the twilight" "they finished before the fall of night"

Related terms

hour night evening

35
[ noun ] (sport) when a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat

Synonyms

pin

36
[ verb ] lose an upright position suddenly

Synonyms

fall_down

Examples

"The vase fell over and the water spilled onto the table" "Her hair fell across her forehead"

Related terms

change_posture

37
[ verb ] drop oneself to a lower or less erect position

Examples

"She fell back in her chair" "He fell to his knees"

Related terms

change_posture spill

38
[ verb ] lose one's chastity

Examples

"a fallen woman"

39
[ verb ] slope downward

Examples

"The hills around here fall towards the ocean"

Related terms

slope descent

40
[ verb ] fall to somebody by assignment or lot

Synonyms

light

Examples

: "The task fell to me" "It fell to me to notify the parents of the victims"

Related terms

accrue

41
[ verb ] be due

Examples

"payments fall on the 1st of the month"

Related terms

be

42
[ verb ] be inherited by

Synonyms

pass devolve return

Examples

"The estate fell to my sister" "The land returned to the family" "The estate devolved to an heir that everybody had assumed to be dead"

Related terms

change_hands accrue

43
[ verb ] come as if by falling

Synonyms

settle descend

Examples

"Night fell" "Silence fell"

Related terms

come

44
[ noun ] a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity

Synonyms

falling drop

Examples

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

45
[ noun ] a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity

Synonyms

drop free_fall dip

Examples

"a drop of 57 points on the Dow Jones index" "there was a drop in pressure in the pulmonary artery" "a dip in prices" "when that became known the price of their stock went into free fall"

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