fall

1. 1

   To be moved downwards.; To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.intransitive

   • Thrown from a cliff, the stone fell 100 feet before hitting the ground.
   • I fell unconscious on the floor.
2. 2

   To be moved downwards.; To come down, to drop or descend.intransitive

   • The rain fell at dawn.
3. 3

   To be moved downwards.; To come as if by dropping down.intransitive

   • Shortly afterwards a breeze came up from the N […] dark clouds closing in over everything. At 3 in the afternoon the breeze came up from the S with a thick drizzle. Thus night fell, and thus we passed the rest of it.
4. 4

   To be moved downwards.; To come to the ground deliberately, to prostrate oneself.intransitive

   • He fell to the floor and begged for mercy.
5. 5

   To be moved downwards.; To be brought to the ground.intransitive

6. 6

   To move downwards.; To let fall; to drop.obsoletetransitive

   • 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.
7. 7

   To move downwards.; To sink; to depress.obsoletetransitive

   • to fall the voice
8. 8

   To move downwards.; To fell; to cut down.UKUSarchaic

   • to fall a tree
9. 9

   To change, often negatively.; To become (chiefly used with negative states).copulativeintransitive

   • Near-synonyms: become, get, go, turn, come, grow, wax
   • She has fallen ill.
10. 10

    To change, often negatively.; To collapse; to be overthrown or defeated.intransitive

    • Rome fell to the Goths in 410 AD.

ant. ascend · go up · rise · get up · pick oneself up · stand up · beat · defeat

1. 1

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

   • the fall of the snow
   • the fall of the water
2. 2

   A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.countableuncountable

   • “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”.
3. 3

   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.CanadaUSarchaic

   • A friend has pointed out to me the following remark on this word: "In North America the season in which this [the fall of the leaf] takes place, derives its name from that circumstance, and instead of autumn is universally called the fall."
4. 4

   A waterfall.countableuncountable

   • The celebrated fall of the Liffey, near Ballymore Eustace, is named Pool-a-Phooka, or The Pooka's Hole.
5. 5

   A loss of greatness or status.countableuncountable

   • the fall of Rome
6. 6

   That which falls or cascades.countableuncountable

   • 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.
7. 7

   The height of that which falls or cascades.countableuncountable

8. 8

   A crucial event or circumstance.; The action of a batsman being out.countableuncountable

9. 9

   A crucial event or circumstance.; A defect in the ice which causes stones thrown into an area to drift in a given direction.countableuncountable

10. 10

    A crucial event or circumstance.; An instance of a wrestler being pinned to the mat.countableuncountable

ant. ascent · rise · increase

1. 1

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

1. 1

   The chasing of a hunted whale.