v. 1 descend, sink, subside, settle, drop or come (down), plummet, plunge, dive, (take a) nosedive; cascade The bucket fell to the bottom of the well A meteorite fell on my house. The water falls 100 metres over the cliff at this point. 2 tumble, trip, stumble, slump, collapse, keel over, topple, crumple Mother fell in the kitchen and hurt her knee 3 diminish, (become) lower, sink, decline, fall or drop off, drop, decrease, dwindle, subside, come or go down The price of oil fell today to a new low 4 slope, fall away, decline Beyond the spinney, the meadow falls towards the river 5 succumb, surrender, yield, give up or in, capitulate, be defeated or conquered, be captured, be taken (captive or prisoner), be overthrown, come or go to ruin, be destroyed, be lost The castle fell after a year's siege 6 die, perish, drop dead, be slain or killed His grandfather fell at the Battle of the Marne 7 fall apart. disintegrate, crumble, collapse, fall or come or go to pieces, break up, be destroyed; break apart, fragment, shatter I knew she would fall apart on the witness stand The gadget fell apart as soon as we used it. 8 fall back. retreat, retire, withdraw, draw back; recede As the enemy advanced, we fell back 9 fall back on or upon. have recourse to, rely or depend on or upon, return to, count on or upon, resort to, call on or upon, make use of, use, employ All the ready ammunition was gone and we had to fall back on our reserves 10 fall behind. drop back, trail, lag; be in arrears If you fall behind, I'll wait for you We fell behind in our mortgage payments. 11 fall down. a collapse, drop She hit me so hard that I fell down b fail, be (found) wanting or lacking, be unsuccessful, be or prove inadequate or disappointing He had to be replaced because he fell down on the job 12 fall flat. collapse, fail, Colloq flop, US bomb (out), lay an egg, go over like a lead balloon A hit in London might fall flat in New York 13 fall for. a fall in love with, be infatuated with Some people will fall for anyone who tells them the right time b be fooled or duped or taken in or deceived by, accept, swallow, succumb to, Slang be a sucker for, US and Canadian be a patsy for Did Beaseley really fall for that old confidence trick? 14 fall in cave in, collapse, sink inwards The walls were about to fall in on us 15 fall in with. join, associate with, become associated or allied with, befriend; cooperate with, go along with, concur with, support, accept He fell in with a gang of thieves and spent the next few years avoiding the police She agreed to fall in with my plan. 16 fall off. diminish, decrease, decline, deteriorate Business falls off immediately after Christmas 17 fall on or upon. attack, assault, assail, set upon Three muggers fell on me and stole my wallet 18 fall out. disagree, differ, quarrel, clash, squabble, wrangle, dispute, fight We fell out over politics 19 fall short. prove or (turn out to) be inadequate or insufficient or deficient or lacking or wanting or disappointing, miss, fail, disappoint The results of the sales campaign fell short of expectations 20 fall through. fail, come to nothing or naught, miscarry, die, Colloq fizzle (out), flop The deal to buy the company fell through 21 fall to. start, begin, commence, set or go about, get under way, undertake, tackle, take on; get moving, attack, Colloq get the show on the road, get cracking, US get a wiggle on, move it The washing-up had to be done so I fell to
n. 22 drop, descent, dive, nosedive, plunge, tumble, dropping, falling How could he have survived a fall from such a height? 23 Chiefly US and Canadian autumn They turn the clocks back one hour in the fall 24 decline, decay, collapse, downfall, failure, destruction, ruin, failure, deterioration, eclipse Have you read Poe's classic Fall of the House of Usher ? 25 Usually, falls cascade, cataract, waterfall; rapids How many falls are there along the Limpopo River? 26 depreciation, sinking, diminution, decrease, decline, lapse, downturn, down-swing, drop, drop-off, lowering, abatement, slump, collapse On the Stock Exchange today, investors experienced sharp falls in share prices 27 slope, declivity, descent, decline, drop, downhill, Chiefly US and Canadian downgrade Note the smooth rise and fall of the land 28 surrender, capitulation, submission, taking, seizure, capture, overthrow, defeat, conquest, downfall The fall of Khartoum in 1898 marked the re-establishment of British rule in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan