Fall

[fɔːl] or [fɔl]

Definition

(noun.) a lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity; 'a fall from virtue'.

(noun.) a movement downward; 'the rise and fall of the tides'.

(noun.) a sudden decline in strength or number or importance; 'the fall of the House of Hapsburg'.

(noun.) when a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat.

(noun.) the lapse of mankind into sinfulness because of the sin of Adam and Eve; 'women have been blamed ever since the Fall'.

(noun.) the season when the leaves fall from the trees; 'in the fall of 1973'.

(verb.) pass suddenly and passively into a state of body or mind; '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 after she lost her work'.

(verb.) occur at a specified time or place; 'Christmas falls on a Monday this year'; 'The accent falls on the first syllable'.

(verb.) be born, used chiefly of lambs; 'The lambs fell in the afternoon'.

(verb.) descend in free fall under the influence of gravity; 'The branch fell from the tree'; 'The unfortunate hiker fell into a crevasse'.

(verb.) move in a specified direction; 'The line of men fall forward'.

(verb.) fall to somebody by assignment or lot; 'The task fell to me'; 'It fell to me to notify the parents of the victims'.

(verb.) be captured; 'The cities fell to the enemy'.

(verb.) to be given by assignment or distribution; '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'.

(verb.) lose office or power; 'The government fell overnight'; 'The Qing Dynasty fell with Sun Yat-sen'.

(verb.) suffer defeat, failure, or ruin; 'We must stand or fall'; 'fall by the wayside'.

(verb.) yield to temptation or sin; 'Adam and Eve fell'.

(verb.) touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly; 'Light fell on her face'; 'The sun shone on the fields'; 'The light struck the golden necklace'; 'A strange sound struck my ears'.

(verb.) die, as in battle or in a hunt; 'Many soldiers fell at Verdun'; 'Several deer have fallen to the same gun'; 'The shooting victim fell dead'.

(verb.) be due; 'payments fall on the 1st of the month'.

(verb.) come under, be classified or included; 'fall into a category'; 'This comes under a new heading'.

(verb.) come out; issue; 'silly phrases fell from her mouth'.

(verb.) assume a disappointed or sad expression; 'Her face fell when she heard that she would be laid off'; 'his crest fell'.

(verb.) slope downward; 'The hills around here fall towards the ocean'.

(verb.) begin vigorously; 'The prisoners fell to work right away'.

(verb.) to be given by right or inheritance; 'The estate fell to the oldest daughter'.

(verb.) be cast down; 'his eyes fell'.

(verb.) drop oneself to a lower or less erect position; 'She fell back in her chair'; 'He fell to his knees'.

(verb.) go as if by falling; 'Grief fell from our hearts'.

(verb.) lose one's chastity; 'a fallen woman'.

(verb.) lose an upright position suddenly; 'The vase fell over and the water spilled onto the table'; 'Her hair fell across her forehead'.

(verb.) come as if by falling; 'Night fell'; 'Silence fell'.

(verb.) be inherited by; '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'.

Typist: Natalie--From WordNet

Definition

(v. t.) To Descend, either suddenly or gradually; particularly, to descend by the force of gravity; to drop; to sink; as, the apple falls; the tide falls; the mercury falls in the barometer.

(v. t.) To cease to be erect; to take suddenly a recumbent posture; to become prostrate; to drop; as, a child totters and falls; a tree falls; a worshiper falls on his knees.

(v. t.) To find a final outlet; to discharge its waters; to empty; -- with into; as, the river Rhone falls into the Mediterranean.

(v. t.) To become prostrate and dead; to die; especially, to die by violence, as in battle.

(v. t.) To cease to be active or strong; to die away; to lose strength; to subside; to become less intense; as, the wind falls.

(v. t.) To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; -- said of the young of certain animals.

(v. t.) To decline in power, glory, wealth, or importance; to become insignificant; to lose rank or position; to decline in weight, value, price etc.; to become less; as, the falls; stocks fell two points.

(v. t.) To be overthrown or captured; to be destroyed.

(v. t.) To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin; to depart from the faith; to apostatize; to sin.

(v. t.) To become insnared or embarrassed; to be entrapped; to be worse off than before; asm to fall into error; to fall into difficulties.

(v. t.) To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; -- said of the countenance.

(v. t.) To sink; to languish; to become feeble or faint; as, our spirits rise and fall with our fortunes.

(v. t.) To pass somewhat suddenly, and passively, into a new state of body or mind; to become; as, to fall asleep; to fall into a passion; to fall in love; to fall into temptation.

(v. t.) To happen; to to come to pass; to light; to befall; to issue; to terminate.

(v. t.) To come; to occur; to arrive.

(v. t.) To begin with haste, ardor, or vehemence; to rush or hurry; as, they fell to blows.

(v. t.) To pass or be transferred by chance, lot, distribution, inheritance, or otherwise; as, the estate fell to his brother; the kingdom fell into the hands of his rivals.

(v. t.) To belong or appertain.

(v. t.) To be dropped or uttered carelessly; as, an unguarded expression fell from his lips; not a murmur fell from him.

(v. t.) To let fall; to drop.

(v. t.) To sink; to depress; as, to fall the voice.

(v. t.) To diminish; to lessen or lower.

(v. t.) To bring forth; as, to fall lambs.

(v. t.) To fell; to cut down; as, to fall a tree.

(n.) The act of falling; a dropping or descending be the force of gravity; descent; as, a fall from a horse, or from the yard of ship.

(n.) The act of dropping or tumbling from an erect posture; as, he was walking on ice, and had a fall.

(n.) Death; destruction; overthrow; ruin.

(n.) Downfall; degradation; loss of greatness or office; termination of greatness, power, or dominion; ruin; overthrow; as, the fall of the Roman empire.

(n.) The surrender of a besieged fortress or town ; as, the fall of Sebastopol.

(n.) Diminution or decrease in price or value; depreciation; as, the fall of prices; the fall of rents.

(n.) A sinking of tone; cadence; as, the fall of the voice at the close of a sentence.

(n.) Declivity; the descent of land or a hill; a slope.

(n.) Descent of water; a cascade; a cataract; a rush of water down a precipice or steep; -- usually in the plural, sometimes in the singular; as, the falls of Niagara.

(n.) The discharge of a river or current of water into the ocean, or into a lake or pond; as, the fall of the Po into the Gulf of Venice.

(n.) Extent of descent; the distance which anything falls; as, the water of a stream has a fall of five feet.

(n.) The season when leaves fall from trees; autumn.

(n.) That which falls; a falling; as, a fall of rain; a heavy fall of snow.

(n.) The act of felling or cutting down.

(n.) Lapse or declension from innocence or goodness. Specifically: The first apostasy; the act of our first parents in eating the forbidden fruit; also, the apostasy of the rebellious angels.

(n.) Formerly, a kind of ruff or band for the neck; a falling band; a faule.

(n.) That part (as one of the ropes) of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting.

Edited by Fred

Synonyms and Synonymous

v. n. [1]. Drop, descend, sink, drop down.[2]. Be prostrated, fall down.[3]. Sink, be lowered, be depressed.[4]. Decrease, decline, be diminished, become less, die away.[5]. Sin, err, transgress, lapse, trip, trespass, commit a fault, do amiss, go astray.[6]. Die, perish, come to destruction.[7]. Empty, disembogue, flow, be discharged.[8]. Happen, befall, come.[9]. Become (sick, asleep, in love, &c.).[10]. Pass, be transferred.[11]. Be dropped, be uttered carelessly.

n. [1]. Descent, dropping.[2]. Tumble, falling.[3]. Cataract, cascade, waterfall.[4]. Extent of descent.[5]. Destruction, death, ruin, overthrow, downfall.[6]. Degradation, loss of eminence.[7]. Apostasy, loss of innocence.[8]. Diminution, decrease, decline.[9]. Sinking (of the voice), cadence, close.[10]. Discharge (of a river), disemboguement.[11]. Autumn, fall of the leaf.[12]. Declivity, slope, inclination.

Checked by Casey

Synonyms and Antonyms

SYN:Drop, descend, droop, decline, gravitate, sink, lapse

ANT:rise, ascend, soar, mount, recover, climb

Checked by Barlow

Definition

n. the cry given when a whale is sighted or harpooned: the chase of a whale.—Loose fall the losing of a whale.

v.i. to drop down: to descend by the force of gravity: to become prostrate: (of a river) to discharge itself: to slope down: to sink as if dead: to vanish: to die away: to lose strength subside: to decline in power wealth value or reputation: to be overthrown: to be compelled to yield: to become downcast: to sink into sin to yield to temptation: to depart from the faith: to become dejected: to pass gently into any state as 'to fall in love ' 'to fall asleep:' to befall: to issue occur: to enter upon with haste or vehemence: to rush: to be dropped in birth: to be required or necessary: to fall away:—pr.p. fall′ing; pa.t. fell; pa.p. fallen (faw′ln).—n. the act of falling in any of its senses: descent by gravity a dropping down: that which falls—a trap-door &c.: as much as comes down at one time as 'a fall of snow ' &c.: overthrow: death: descent from a better to a worse position: slope or declivity: descent of water: a cascade: length of a fall: outlet of a river: decrease in value: a sinking of the voice: the time when the leaves fall autumn: a bout at wrestling: the yielding of a city or stronghold to the enemy: that which falls: a lapse into sin esp. that of Adam and Eve called 'the Fall:' a kind of collar worn in the 17th century.—adj. Fall′en in a degraded state ruined.—ns. Fall′ing that which falls; Fall′ing-band (see Band); Fall′ing-sick′ness epilepsy; Fall′ing-star a meteor; Fall′ing-stone a portion of an exploded meteor; Fall′trank a medicine compounded of certain aromatic and astringent Swiss plants of repute for accidents; Fall′-trap a trap which operates by falling.—Fall-a to begin; Fall across to meet by chance; Fall among to come into the midst of; Fall away to decline gradually to languish: to grow lean: to revolt or apostatise; Fall back to retreat give way; Fall back fall edge no matter what may happen; Fall back upon to have recourse to some expedient or resource in reserve; Fall behind to slacken to be outstripped; Fall flat to fail completely as a shopman in attracting attention or purchasers a new book &c.; Fall foul to come in collision: to quarrel (with of); Fall in (with) to concur or agree: to comply: to place themselves in order as soldiers; Fall off to separate or be broken: to die away to perish: to revolt or apostatise; Fall on to begin eagerly: to make an attack: to meet; Fall on one's feet to come well out of a difficulty to gain any unexpected good fortune; Fall out to quarrel: to happen or befall; Fall over (Shak.) to go over to the enemy; Fall short to be deficient (with of); Fall through to fail come to nothing; Fall to to begin hastily and eagerly: to apply one's self to; Fall upon to attack: to attempt: to rush against.—Try a fall to take a bout at wrestling.

Checker: Vivian