fall.
To be moved downwards.
Meaning & usage
To be moved downwards. To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
Thrown from a cliff, the stone fell 100 feet before hitting the ground.
I fell unconscious on the floor.
To be moved downwards. To come down, to drop or descend.
The rain fell at dawn.
To be moved downwards. To come as if by dropping down.
To be moved downwards. To come to the ground deliberately, to prostrate oneself.
He fell to the floor and begged for mercy.
To be moved downwards. To be brought to the ground.
To move downwards. To let fall; to drop.
To move downwards. To sink; to depress.
to fall the voice
To move downwards. To fell; to cut down.
to fall a tree
To change, often negatively. To become (chiefly used with negative states).
She has fallen ill.
The children fell asleep in the back of the car.
To change, often negatively. To collapse; to be overthrown or defeated.
Rome fell to the Goths in 410 AD.
To change, often negatively. To die, especially in battle or by disease.
This is a monument to all those who fell in the First World War.
To change, often negatively. To become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc.).
The candidate's poll ratings fell abruptly after the banking scandal.
To occur (on a certain day of the week, date, or similar); to happen.
Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday.
Last year, Commencement fell on June 3.
To be allotted to; to arrive through chance, fate, or inheritance.
And so it falls to me to make this important decision.
The estate fell to his brother.
To diminish; to lessen or lower.
To bring forth.
to fall lambs
To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; said of the young of certain animals.
To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin.
To become ensnared or entrapped; to be worse off than before.
to fall into error; to fall into difficulties; to fall into ruin
To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; said of the face.
To happen; to come to pass; to chance or light (upon).
To begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence; to rush or hurry.
After arguing, they fell to blows.
To be dropped or uttered carelessly.
An unguarded expression fell from his lips.
To hang down (under the influence of gravity).
An Empire-style dress has a high waistline – directly under the bust – from which the dress falls all the way to a hem as low as the floor.
To visit; to go to a place.
We'll fall over to the club tonight.
Where this word comes from
Verb from Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan (“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallan (“to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- (“to collapse, fall; to destroy”). Cognates Cognate with Scots faw (“to fall”), Yola vale, vall, vole (“to fall”), North Frisian faal, fåle (“to fall”), Saterland Frisian faale (“to fall”), West Frisian falle (“to fall”), Bavarian foin (“to fall”), Cimbrian ballan, vallan (“to fall”), Dutch vallen (“to fall”), German and Low German fallen (“to fall”), Luxembourgish falen (“to fall”), Yiddish פֿאַלן (faln, “to fall”), Danish falde (“to fall”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish falla (“to fall”), Norwegian Bokmål falle (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk falla, falle (“to fall”); also Latin aboleō (“to destroy; to die”), Ancient Greek ὄλλῡμι (óllūmi, “to destroy; to lose”), Armenian եղեռն (eġeṙn, “crime; calamity, catastrophe; slaughter”), Lithuanian pùlti (“to fall; to attack, assault”). Noun from Middle English fal, fall, falle, from Old English feall, ġefeall (“a falling, fall”) and Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”). Cognate with Yola vall (“fall”), Dutch val (“fall”), German Fall (“fall”), Danish fald (“fall”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish fall (“fall”). Sense of "autumn" is attested by the 1660s in England as a shortening of fall of the leaf (1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along with autumn, it mostly replaced the older name harvest as that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Compare spring, which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.
The act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
the fall of the snow
the fall of the water
A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.
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.
A waterfall.
A loss of greatness or status.
the fall of Rome
That which falls or cascades.
The height of that which falls or cascades.
A crucial event or circumstance. The action of a batsman being out.
A crucial event or circumstance. A defect in the ice which causes stones thrown into an area to drift in a given direction.
A crucial event or circumstance. An instance of a wrestler being pinned to the mat.
A hairpiece for women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended primarily to cover hair loss.
Blame or punishment for a failure or misdeed.
He set up his rival to take the fall.
The part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting (usu. plural).
Have the goodness to secure the falls of the mizzen halyards.
An old Scots unit of measure equal to six ells.
A short, flexible piece of leather forming part of a bullwhip, placed between the thong and the cracker.
The lid, on a piano, that covers the keyboard.
A group of woodcock, especially appearing suddenly, as if overnight.
Where this word comes from
Verb from Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan (“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallan (“to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- (“to collapse, fall; to destroy”). Cognates Cognate with Scots faw (“to fall”), Yola vale, vall, vole (“to fall”), North Frisian faal, fåle (“to fall”), Saterland Frisian faale (“to fall”), West Frisian falle (“to fall”), Bavarian foin (“to fall”), Cimbrian ballan, vallan (“to fall”), Dutch vallen (“to fall”), German and Low German fallen (“to fall”), Luxembourgish falen (“to fall”), Yiddish פֿאַלן (faln, “to fall”), Danish falde (“to fall”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish falla (“to fall”), Norwegian Bokmål falle (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk falla, falle (“to fall”); also Latin aboleō (“to destroy; to die”), Ancient Greek ὄλλῡμι (óllūmi, “to destroy; to lose”), Armenian եղեռն (eġeṙn, “crime; calamity, catastrophe; slaughter”), Lithuanian pùlti (“to fall; to attack, assault”). Noun from Middle English fal, fall, falle, from Old English feall, ġefeall (“a falling, fall”) and Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”). Cognate with Yola vall (“fall”), Dutch val (“fall”), German Fall (“fall”), Danish fald (“fall”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish fall (“fall”). Sense of "autumn" is attested by the 1660s in England as a shortening of fall of the leaf (1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along with autumn, it mostly replaced the older name harvest as that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Compare spring, which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.
The cry given when a whale is sighted, or harpooned.
Where this word comes from
Perhaps from the north-eastern Scottish pronunciation of whale.
The chasing of a hunted whale.
Where this word comes from
Perhaps from the north-eastern Scottish pronunciation of whale.
Try it on your idea.
fall has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.