fall*/*/*/

[fɔːl] (past tense fell [fel] ; past participle fallen [ˈfɔːlən] ) verb I

1) to move quickly downwards from a higher position by accident

I keep falling off my bike.[/ex]

It's not unusual for small children to fall out of bed.[/ex]

2) to go quickly down onto the ground from an upright position by accident

I slipped and almost fell.[/ex]

We heard the crash of falling trees.[/ex]

He collapsed and fell to the ground.[/ex]

3) to come down to the ground from the sky

Snow began to quietly fall.[/ex]

Bombs fell on the city throughout the night.[/ex]

4) to become lower in level or amount

Ant:

rise

The temperature has been falling all day.[/ex]

Inflation has fallen to 3%.[/ex]

5) to belong to a particular group or area of activity

Those items fall into the category of luxury goods.[/ex]

6) to change into another state or condition

Shortly before Christmas she fell ill.[/ex]

I climbed into bed and fell into a deep sleep.[/ex]

7) to happen on a particular day or date

Christmas falls on a Saturday this year.[/ex]

8) to lose a position of power

9) literary

to hang down

•

fall in love — to start to love someone[/ex]

fall into place — 1) if something falls into place, you suddenly understand something that you did not understand before; 2) if things fall into place, they start to happen in the way that you want them to[/ex]

fall into place — 1) if something falls into place, you suddenly understand how the different pieces of it are connected; 2) if things fall into place, events happen in a way that is satisfactory for you[/ex]

fall short — to not reach a particular level[/ex]

fall to bits/pieces — to be in a very bad condition because of being old or badly made[/ex]

See:

foot I

- fall apart

- fall back

- fall back on sth

- fall behind sb

- fall down

- fall for sb

- fall for sth

- fall off

- fall out

- fall over

- fall through

Words often used with fall Adverbs often used with [i]fall (verb, sense 3) ■ FALL + dramatically, rapidly, sharply, steeply used when a level becomes much lower very quickly II

noun

fall */*/*/[fɔːl]

1) [C] an occasion when someone or something falls to the ground

Her brother was killed in a fall from a horse.[/ex]

2) [C] an amount of something that falls to the ground

a heavy fall of snow[/ex]

3) [C] an occasion when an amount or level falls

Ant:

rise

There has been a sharp fall in unemployment.[/ex]

We have seen a fall of 5% in sales this month.[/ex]

4) [singular] someone's defeat or loss of power

5) falls

[plural] a waterfall

6) [singular] American

autumn