INDEX:
1. when someone accidentally falls from a standing position
2. to almost fall from a standing position
3. when an upright object, a building, a wall, etc falls
4. to fall through the air to the ground
5. to fall off a horse, bicycle etc
6. to deliberately make someone fall
7. to let something fall or make something fall
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ DOWN
↑ ACCIDENT
↑ HIT
↑ JUMP
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1. when someone accidentally falls from a standing position
▷ fall /fɔːl/ [intransitive verb]
to accidentally fall from a standing position :
▪ She was going up the stairs when she fell.
▪ George held on tightly, afraid that he might fall.
fall down the stairs/steps etc
▪ There was concern for the Queen Mother yesterday after she fell down a short flight of steps at the airport.
▷ fall over/down /ˌfɔːl ˈəʊvəʳ, ˈdaʊn/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to fall onto the ground from a standing position :
▪ Ben fell down and scraped his knee.
▪ Beginning skiers can expect to fall down a lot.
▪ The pavement was slippery and it was easy to fall over.
▷ have a fall /ˌhæv ə ˈfɔːl/ [verb phrase not in progressive] British
if someone, especially an old person, has a fall, they fall and hurt themselves :
▪ My neighbour has had a fall and broken a rib.
▪ Grandma had a bad fall in the snow that winter.
▷ tumble /ˈtʌmb ə l/ [intransitive verb]
to fall quickly down a slope or down stairs, rolling over and over and unable to stop :
tumble down/off/into etc
▪ She tumbled down the stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom.
▪ A bus veered off the road and tumbled down the hill into the river below.
▷ fall flat on your face /fɔːl ˌflæt ɒn jɔːʳ ˈfeɪs/ [verb phrase]
to fall over suddenly so that you are lying on your front on the ground, especially in a way that makes you look funny :
▪ She fell flat on her face getting out of the car.
▪ The last time I wore high-heeled shoes I fell flat on my face outside a restaurant.
▷ collapse /kəˈlæps/ [intransitive verb]
to fall suddenly and heavily onto the ground, into a chair etc, because of tiredness, illness, or injury :
▪ One of the horses collapsed from exhaustion after the race.
collapse on
▪ Cohen was hospitalized after he collapsed on the floor and briefly lost consciousness.
collapse into
▪ Milligan collapsed into a chair, sighing deeply.
collapse [singular noun]
▪ After Stephen’s sudden collapse during the meeting, he was rushed to the hospital.
▷ keel over /ˌkiːl ˈəʊvəʳ/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to suddenly fall to the ground, because you are ill or have had a shock :
▪ She’d been complaining of a headache all morning, and suddenly she just keeled over.
▪ Carson keeled over and died in front of the nightclub after taking a number of illegal drugs.
▷ go head over heels /gəʊ ˌhed əʊvəʳ ˈhiːlz/ [verb phrase]
to fall forward with so much force that you roll over :
▪ She slipped on the polished floor and went head over heels.
▪ Shelly’s horse stepped into soft sand and went down, horse and rider going head over heels in a cloud of dust.
2. to almost fall from a standing position
▷ trip also trip over British /trɪp, ˌtrɪp ˈəʊvəʳ/ [intransitive verb]
to accidentally hit something with your foot when you are walking or running, so that you fall or nearly fall :
▪ I didn’t push him - he tripped.
▪ She’d had quite a lot to drink and kept tripping over.
trip over
▪ Pick up that box -- someone might trip over it.
trip on
▪ Her medical problems began when she tripped on a rug and broke her hip.
trip and fall
▪ One boy tripped and fell into the water.
▷ slip /slɪp/ [intransitive verb]
to accidentally slide on a wet or smooth surface, so that you fall or nearly fall :
▪ Be careful you don’t slip - the floor’s wet.
slip on
▪ She slipped on the icy sidewalk and grabbed Will’s arm to steady herself.
slip and fall
▪ I walked slowly through the mud, trying not to slip and fall.
▷ stumble /ˈstʌmb ə l/ [intransitive verb]
to nearly fall down when you are walking or running, because you do not put your foot down carefully or because something is in the way :
▪ In her hurry, Eva stumbled and dropped the tray she was carrying.
stumble on/over
▪ Mason headed towards the house, stumbling on the rough ground.
▷ lose your balance /ˌluːz jɔːʳ ˈbæləns/ [verb phrase]
to fall or nearly fall, when you need to balance carefully to remain in an upright position, for example when you are standing on a ladder or riding a bicycle :
▪ I tried to help Gina up, but I lost my balance and we both fell into the stream.
▪ Bill was leaning over to watch, and lost his balance.
▷ lose your footing /ˌluːz jɔːʳ ˈfʊtɪŋ/ [verb phrase]
to lose your balance because your foot slips, especially when you are walking or climbing over an uneven or slippery surface :
▪ I lost my footing on the snowy bank and fell into the river.
▪ A climber who lost his footing was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
3. when an upright object, a building, a wall, etc falls
▷ fall /fɔːl/ [intransitive verb]
▪ She was playing just yards from where the building fell.
fall across/onto/on top of
▪ A tree had fallen across the road and blocked it.
fall off/out of/from
▪ The days were getting shorter and the leaves had started falling from the trees
▪ I can’t find my passport - it must have fallen out of my pocket.
fallen [adjective only before noun]
▪ Fallen trees blocked the railway tracks.
▷ fall over /ˌfɔːl ˈəʊvəʳ/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
if a tall object falls over, it falls onto its side from an upright position :
▪ That bookcase looks as if it’s about to fall over.
▪ There was no wind; the tree just fell over.
▷ fall down /ˌfɔːl ˈdaʊn/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
if a building, wall, or fence falls down, part or all of it falls to the ground, because it is in bad condition or because it has been damaged :
▪ A boy was injured yesterday when part of a wall fell down near to where he was playing.
▪ A large tree fell down during a windstorm and damaged our car.
▷ collapse /kəˈlæps/ [intransitive verb]
if a building, wall etc collapses, it suddenly falls down, especially because of a sudden pressure :
▪ Our tent collapsed in the middle of the night.
▪ The building was badly damaged in the explosion, and rescue workers are worried that it may collapse.
▪ Minutes later the second tower collapsed.
▷ fall in /ˌfɔːl ˈɪn/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
if a roof falls in, it falls to the ground inside the building :
▪ During the hurricane the roof fell in.
fall in on
▪ We need to fix the ceiling before it falls in on us.
▷ cave in /ˌkeɪv ˈɪn/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
if a roof, wall etc caves in, it suddenly and heavily falls inwards especially because it is weak and in bad condition :
▪ The roof has caved in, so the whole building has been declared unsafe.
cave in on
▪ Wooden beams support the roof, preventing it from caving in on the miners.
▷ topple over /ˌtɒp ə l ˈəʊvəʳǁˌtɑː-/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
if something topples over, it moves unsteadily backwards and forwards then falls to the ground :
▪ The little boy put one more brick on the tower and it toppled over.
▪ That plant’s going to topple over if you don’t put it in a bigger pot.
▷ tip over /ˌtɪp ˈəʊvəʳ/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
to suddenly turn and fall to the ground as a result of not being properly balanced :
▪ I sat on the edge of the table, and the whole thing tipped over.
▪ The fire started when a lamp tipped over and ignited a cloth sofa.
4. to fall through the air to the ground
▷ fall /fɔːl/ [intransitive verb]
▪ One of the climbers fell fifty feet.
▪ A light rain was falling.
fall out/into/from etc
▪ She opened the cupboard and everything fell out.
▪ There should be spaces between the boards of the deck to allow debris to fall through.
▪ Fred fell out of the tree and broke his arm.
▪ The girl had fallen from a fourth-floor window, but was not badly hurt.
fall on
▪ Careful that box doesn’t fall on you, Charlotte!
▷ fall off /ˌfɔːl ˈɒf/ [intransitive/transitive phrasal verb]
to accidentally fall from something in a high position to the ground :
▪ Jim was laughing so hard he fell off his chair.
▪ A bag of groceries fell off the table onto the floor.
▷ plunge /plʌndʒ/ [intransitive verb]
to suddenly fall a long way from somewhere high up :
▪ The aeroplane’s engines failed and it plunged into the ocean.
plunge off/down/into etc
▪ Their car swerved to avoid a truck, and plunged off the cliff.
plunge to your death
fall a long way and be killed
▪ A skydiver plunged to his death yesterday when his parachute failed to open.
▷ plummet /ˈplʌmɪt, ˈplʌmət/ [intransitive verb]
to fall from somewhere high up, very quickly and very directly :
▪ The rope snapped, causing the climber to plummet several hundred feet down the mountain.
▪ Two aircraft on a training flight collided and plummeted to the ground.
▷ drop /drɒpǁdrɑːp/ [intransitive verb]
to fall suddenly from a high place straight down onto or towards the ground :
drop onto/to/from etc
▪ Two bottles rolled across the table, dropped onto the floor, and smashed.
▪ A few pine cones had already dropped to the ground.
▷ tumble /ˈtʌmb ə l/ [intransitive verb]
to fall quickly through the air, rolling over and over :
tumble down/off/from etc
▪ A little girl tumbled about 30 feet from the window of her family’s third-floor apartment.
▷ come down /ˌkʌm ˈdaʊn/ [intransitive phrasal verb]
if rain, snow etc comes down, it falls heavily :
▪ We can’t go out now -- the rain’s really coming down.
▪ Snow was coming down so thickly I could barely see through the window.
5. to fall off a horse, bicycle etc
▷ fall off /ˌfɔːl ˈɒf/ [intransitive/transitive verb]
to accidentally fall from something you are riding on, for example a horse or a bicycle :
▪ He fell off his bike and broke his wrist.
▪ A bolt broke on an amusement park ride, and several children who fell off were seriously injured.
▷ be thrown /biː ˈθrəʊn/ [verb phrase]
to fall off a horse or similar animal because of a violent or sudden movement :
▪ Rodeo riders can suffer appalling injuries after being thrown by bulls and steers.
be thrown from
▪ He broke his neck when he was thrown from a horse.
6. to deliberately make someone fall
▷ knock somebody over/knock somebody down /ˌnɒk somebody ˈəʊvəʳ, ˌnɒk somebody ˈdaʊnǁˌnɑːk-/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to push or hit someone hard, so that they fall to the ground :
knock somebody over/down
▪ Careful where you’re going! You nearly knocked me over!
▪ In the rush to get out of the building, she was knocked down.
knock down/over somebody
▪ Some of the bigger boys purposely knock over the smaller ones.
▷ trip also trip up /trɪp, ˌtrɪp ˈʌp/ British /trɪp, ˌtrɪp ˌʌp/ []
to make someone fall or almost fall by putting your foot or another object in their way :
▪ One of the runners claimed she had been tripped.
trip somebody up
▪ One man tripped me up and the other one grabbed my handbag.
▷ push somebody over /ˌpʊʃ somebody ˈəʊvəʳ/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to deliberately push someone with your hand so that they fall to the ground :
▪ Another little kid came and pushed him over onto the grass.
▷ knock somebody to the ground /ˌnɒk somebody tə ðə ˈgraʊnd ǁ ˌnɑːk-/ [verb phrase]
to hit someone so hard that they lose their balance and fall to the ground :
▪ A teenage boy knocked him to the ground and ran off with his briefcase.
7. to let something fall or make something fall
▷ drop /drɒpǁdrɑːp/ [transitive verb]
to stop holding something so that it falls, especially accidentally :
▪ Watch you don’t drop that box - it’s very heavy.
▪ Her hands shake constantly and she keeps dropping things.
▪ You dropped your toy. Do you want it back?
drop something on/onto something
▪ Margaret dropped the letters onto her desk.
▷ knock over /ˌnɒk ˈəʊvəʳǁˌnɑːk-/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to hit something so that it falls onto its side from an upright position, especially when you do this accidentally :
knock something over
▪ Be careful or you’ll knock the vase over.
knock over something
▪ He bumped into the table and knocked over the candle.
▷ spill /spɪl/ [transitive verb]
to accidentally let liquid, powder, or small pieces of something fall onto a surface and spread out over it :
▪ Oops, I just spilled my water.
spill something down/all over/onto something
▪ ‘How was the party?’ ‘OK, but some idiot spilled wine all over my new dress.’
▪ Aaron spilled all the popcorn on the floor.
▷ tip over /ˌtɪp ˈəʊvəʳ/ [transitive phrasal verb]
to make something fall over, usually accidentally, by making it lose balance :
tip something over
▪ The cat managed to tip the Christmas tree over.
tip over something
▪ He accidentally tipped over a candle, and the tablecloth caught fire.
▷ overturn /ˌəʊvəʳˈtɜːʳn/ [transitive verb]
to make something fall on its side or turn something over completely, especially by pushing it very hard :
▪ The wind was so strong that it overturned dustbins and wrecked fences.
▪ Protestors overturned cars and set fire to them.
▷ upset /ʌpˈset/ [transitive verb]
to accidentally knock or push something over, so that its contents fall out and spread over a wide area :
▪ One of the kids upset a bottle of water on the table.