FALL, v.i. pret. fell; pp. fallen. [L. fallo, to fail, to deceive, Gr.; Heb. to fall. Fail agrees better with Heb., but these words may have had one primitive root, the sense of which was to move, to recede, to pass. See Foul.]

1. The act of dropping or descending from a higher to a lower place by gravity; descent; as, a fall from a horse or from the yard of a ship.
2. The act of dropping or tumbling from an erect posture. He was walking on ice and had a fall.
3. Death; destruction; overthrow. Our fathers had a great fall before our enemies. Judith.
4. Ruin; destruction. They conspire thy fall. Denham.
5. Downfall; degradation; loss of greatness or office; as, the fall of cardinal Wolsey. Behold thee glorious only in thy fall. Pope.
6. Declension of greatness, power or dominion; ruin; as, the fall of the Roman empire.
7. Diminution; decrease of price or value; depreciation; as, the fall of prices; the fall of rents; the fall of interest.
8. Declination of sound; a sinking of tone; cadence; as, the fall of the voice at the close of a sentence.
9. Declivity; the descent of land or a hill; a slope. Bacon.
10. Descent of water; a cascade; a cataract; a rush of water down a steep place; usually in the plural; sometimes in the singular; as, the falls of Niagara, or the Mohawk; the fall of the Hoosatonuc at Canaan. Fall is applied to a perpendicular descent, or to one that is very steep. When the descent is moderate, we name it rapids. Custom however sometimes deviates from this rule, and the rapids of rivers are called falls.
11. The outlet or 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. Addison.
12. Extent of descent; the distance which any thing falls; as, the water of a pond has a fall of five feet.
13. The fall of the leaf; the season when leaves fall from trees; autumn.
14. That which falls; a falling; as, a fall of rain or snow.
15. The act of felling or cutting down; as, the fall of timber.
16. Fall, or the fall, by way of distinction, the apostasy; the act of our first parents in eating the forbidden fruit; also the apostasy of the rebellious angels.
17. Formerly, a kind of vale. B. Jonson.
18. In seamen's language, the loose end of a tackle. Mar. Dict.
19. In Great Britain, a term applied to several measures, linear, superficial and solid. Cyc.

1. To drop from a higher place; to descend by the power of gravity alone. Rain falls from the clouds; a man falls from his horse; ripe fruits fall from trees; an ox falls into a pit. I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Luke x.
2. To drop from an erect posture. I fell at his feet to worship him. Rev. xix.
3. To disembogne; to pass at the outlet; to flow out of its channel into a pond, lake or sea, as a river. The Rhone falls into the Mediterranean Sea. The Danube falls into, the Euxine. The Mississippi falls into the Gulf of Mexico.
4. To depart from the faith, or from rectitude; to apostatize. Adam fell by eating the forbidden fruit. Labor to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Heb. iv.
5. To die, particularly by violence. Ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Lev. xxvi. A thousand shall fall at thy side. Ps. xci.
6. To come to an end suddenly; to vanish; to perish. The greatness of these Irish lords suddenly fell and vanished. Davies.
7. To be degraded; to sink into disrepute or disgrace; to be plunged into misery; as, to fall from an elevated station or from a prosperous state.
8. To decline in power, wealth or glory; to sink into weakness; to be overthrown or ruined. This is the renowned Tyre; but oh, how fallen. Heaven and earth will witness, / If Rome must fall, that we are Innocent. Addison.
9. To pass into a worse state than the former; to come; as, to fall into difficulties; to fall under censure or imputation; to fall into error or absurdity; to fall into a snare. In these and similar phrases, the sense of suddenness, accident or ignorance is often implied; but not always.
10. To sink; to be lowered. The mercury in a thermometer rises and falls with the increase and diminution of heat. The water of a river rises and falls. The tide falls.
11. To decrease; to be diminished in weight or value. The price of goods falls with plenty and rises with scarcity. Pliny tells us, the as fell from a pound to two ounces in the first Punic war. Arbuthnot.
12. To sink; not to amount to the full. The greatness of finances and revenue doth fall under computation. Bacon.
13. To be rejected; to sink into disrepute. This book must stand or fall with thee. Locke.
14. To decline from violence to calmness, from intensity to remission. The wind falls and a calm succeeds. At length her fury fell. Dryden.
15. To pass into a new state of body or mind; to become; as, to fall asleep; to full distracted; to fall sick; to fall into rage or passion; to fall in love; to fall into temptation.
16. To sink into an air of dejection, discontent, anger, sorrow or shame; applied to the countenance or look. Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. Gen. iv. I have observed of late thy looks are fallen. Addison.
17. To happen; to befall; to come. Since this fortune falls to you. Shak.
18. To light on; to come by chance. The Romans fell on this model by chance. Swift.
19. To come; to rush on; to assail. Fear and dread shall fall on them. Ex. xv. And fear fell on them all. Acts xix.
20. To come; to arrive. The vernal equinox, which at the Nicene council fell on the 21^st of March, falls now about ten days sooner. Holder.
21. To come unexpectedly. It happened this evening that we fell into a pleasing walk. Addison.
22. To begin with haste, ardor or vehemence; to rush or hurry to. They fell to blows. The mixt multitude fell to lusting. Num. xi.
23. To pass or be transferred by chance, lot, distribution, inheritance or otherwise, as possession or property. The estate or the province fell to his brother. The kingdom fell into the hands of his rival. A large estate fell to his heirs.
24. To become the property of; to belong or appertain to. If to her share some female errors fall, / Look in her face, and you'll forget them all. Pope.
25. To be dropped or uttered carelessly. Some expressions fall from him. An unguarded expression fell from his lips. Not a word fell from him on the subject.
26. To sink; to languish; to become feeble or faint. Our hopes and fears rise and fall with good or ill success.
27. To be brought forth. Take care of lambs when they first fall. Mortimer.
28. To issue; to terminate. Sit still, my daughter, till thou knowest how the matter will fall. Ruth iii. To fall aboard of, to strike against another ship. To fall astern, to move or be driven backward; or to remain behind. A ship falls astern by the force of a current, or when outsailed by another. To fall away, to lose flesh; to become lean or emaciated; to pine. #2. To renounce or desert allegiance; to revolt or rebel. #3. To renounce or desert the faith; to apostatize; to sink into wickedness. These for awhile believe, and in time of temptation fall away. Luke viii. #4. To perish; to be ruined; to be lost How can the soul – fall away into nothing. Addison. #5. To decline gradually; to fade; to languish, or become faint. One color falls away by just degrees, and another rises insensibly. Addison. To fall back, to recede; to give way. #2. To fail of performing a promise or purpose; not to fulfill. To fall calm, to cease to blow; to become calm. To fall down, to prostrate one's self in worship. All nations shall fall down before him. Ps. lxxii. #2. To sink; to come to the ground. Down fell the beauteous youth. Dryden. #3. To bend or bow as a suppliant. Isaiah xlv. #4. To sail or pass toward the mouth of a river, or other outlet. To fall foul, to attack; to make an assault. To fall from, to recede from; to depart; not to adhere; as, to fall from an agreement or engagement. #2. To depart from allegiance or duty; to revolt. To fall in, to concur; to agree with. The measure falls in with popular opinion. #2. To comply; to yield to. You will find it difficult to persuade learned men to fall in with your projects. Addison. #3. To come in; to join; to enter. Fall info the ranks; fall in on the right. To fall in with, to meet, as a ship; also, to discover or come near, as land. To fall off, to withdraw; to separate; to be broken or detached. Friends fall off in adversity. Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide. Shak. #2. To perish; to die away. Words fall off by disuse. #3. To apostatize; to forsake; to withdraw from the faith, or from allegiance or duty. Those captive tribes felt off From God to worship calves. Milton. #4. To forsake; to abandon. His subscribers fell off. #5. To drop. Fruits fall off when ripe. #6. To depreciate; to depart from former excellence; to become less valuable or interesting. The magazine or the review falls off; it has fallen off. #7. To deviate or depart from the course directed, or to which the head of the ship was before directed; to fall to leeward. To fall on, to begin suddenly and eagerly. Fall on, and try the appetite to eat. Dryden. #2. To begin an attack; to assault; to assail. Fall on, fall on, and hear him not. Dryden. #3. To drop on; to descend on. To fall out, to quarrel; to begin to contend. A soul exasperated in ills, falls out With every thing, its friend, itself. Addison. #2. To happen; to befall; to chance. There fell out a bloody quarrel betwixt the frogs and the mice. L'Estrange. To fall over, to revolt; to desert from one side to another. #2. To fall beyond. Shak. To fall short, to be deficient. The corn falls short. We all fall short in duty. To fall to, to begin hastily and eagerly. Fall to, with eager joy, on homely food. Dryden. #2. To apply one's self to. He will never after fall to labor. They fell to raising money, under pretense of the relief of Ireland. Clarendon. To fall under, to come under, or within the limits of; to be subjected to. They fell under the jurisdiction of the emperor. #2. To come under; to become the subject of. This point did not fall under the cognizance or deliberations of the court. These things do not fall under human sight or observation. #3. To come within; to be ranged or reckoned with. These substances fall under a different class or order. To fall upon, to attack. [See To fall on.] #2. To attempt. I do not intend to fall upon nice disquisitions. Holder. #3. To rush against. Fall primarily denotes descending motion, either in a perpendicular or inclined direction, and in most of its applications, implies literally or figuratively velocity, haste, suddenness or violence. Its use is so various and so much diversified by modifying words, that it is not easy to enumerate its senses in all its applications.

1. To let fall; to drop. And fall thy edgeless sword. I am willing to fall this argument. Shak. Dryden. [This application is obsolete.]
2. To sink; to depress; as, to raise or fall the voice.
3. To diminish; to lessen or lower; as, to fall the price of commodities. [Little used.]
4. To bring forth; as, to fall lambs. [Little used.] Shak.
5. To fell; to cut down; as, to fall a tree. [This use is now common in America, and fell and fall are probably from a common root.]

1. 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.
   
   

   I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Luke x. 18.

2. To let fall; to drop.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   For every tear he falls, a Trojan bleeds. Shak.

3. 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.
4. 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.
   
   

   I fell at his feet to worship him. Rev. xix. 10.

5. To sink; to depress; as, to fall the voice.
   
   
   [Obs.]
6. The act of dropping or tumbling from an erect posture; as, he was walking on ice, and had a fall.
7. To find a final outlet; to discharge its waters; to empty; -- with into; as, the river Rhone falls into the Mediterranean.
8. To diminish; to lessen or lower.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   Upon lessening interest to four per cent, you fall the price of your native commodities. Locke.

9. Death; destruction; overthrow; ruin.
   
   

   They thy fall conspire. Denham.

   Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Prov. xvi. 18.

10. To become prostrate and dead; to die; especially, to die by violence, as in battle.
    
    

    A thousand shall fall at thy side. Ps. xci. 7.

    He rushed into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell. Byron.

11. To bring forth; as, to fall lambs.
    
    
    [R.] Shak.
12. Downfall; degradation; loss of greatness or office; termination of greatness, power, or dominion; ruin; overthrow; as, the fall of the Roman empire.
    
    

    Beholds thee glorious only in thy fall. Pope.

13. To cease to be active or strong; to die away; to lose strength; to subside; to become less intense; as, the wind falls.
14. To fell; to cut down; as, to fall a tree.
    
    
    [Prov. Eng. *** Local, U.S.]
15. The surrender of a besieged fortress or town ; as, the fall of Sebastopol.
16. To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; -- said of the young of certain animals.
    
    
    Shak.
17. Diminution or decrease in price or value; depreciation; as, the fall of prices; the fall of rents.
18. 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 price falls; stocks fell two points.
    
    

    I am a poor fallen man, unworthy now
    To be thy lord and master. Shak.

    The greatness of these Irish lords suddenly fell and vanished. Sir J. Davies.

19. A sinking of tone; cadence; as, the fall of the voice at the close of a sentence.
20. To be overthrown or captured; to be destroyed.
    
    

    Heaven and earth will witness,
    If Rome must fall, that we are innocent. Addison.

21. Declivity; the descent of land or a hill; a slope.
22. 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.
    
    

    Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Heb. iv. 11.

23. 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.
24. To become insnared or embarrassed; to be entrapped; to be worse off than before; as, to fall into error; to fall into difficulties.
25. 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.
    
    
    Addison.
26. To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; -- said of the countenance.
    
    

    Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. Gen. iv. 5.

    I have observed of late thy looks are fallen. Addison.

27. Extent of descent; the distance which anything falls; as, the water of a stream has a fall of five feet.
28. To sink; to languish; to become feeble or faint; as, our spirits rise and fall with our fortunes.
29. The season when leaves fall from trees; autumn.
    
    

    What crowds of patients the town doctor kills,
    Or how, last fall, he raised the weekly bills. Dryden.

30. 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.
31. That which falls; a falling; as, a fall of rain; a heavy fall of snow.
32. To happen; to to come to pass; to light; to befall; to issue; to terminate.
    
    

    The Romans fell on this model by chance. Swift.

    Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall. Ruth. iii. 18.

    They do not make laws, they fall into customs. H. Spencer.

33. The act of felling or cutting down.
    
    
    "The fall of timber." Johnson.
34. To come; to occur; to arrive.
    
    

    The vernal equinox, which at the Nicene Council fell on the 21st of March, falls now [1694] about ten days sooner. Holder.

35. 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.
36. To begin with haste, ardor, or vehemence; to rush or hurry; as, they fell to blows.
    
    

    They now no longer doubted, but fell to work heart and soul. Jowett (Thucyd. ).

37. Formerly, a kind of ruff or band for the neck; a falling band; a faule.
    
    
    B. Jonson.
38. 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.
39. That part (as one of the ropes) of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting.
    
    

    Fall herring (Zoöl.), a herring of the Atlantic (Clupea mediocris); -- also called tailor herring, and hickory shad. -- To try a fall, to try a bout at wrestling. Shak.

40. To belong or appertain.
    
    

    If to her share some female errors fall,
    Look on her face, and you'll forget them all. Pope.

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

    To fall abroad of (Naut.), to strike against; -- applied to one vessel coming into collision with another. -- To fall among, to come among accidentally or unexpectedly. -- To fall astern (Naut.), to move or be driven backward; to be left behind; as, a ship falls astern by the force of a current, or when outsailed by another. -- To fall away. (a) To lose flesh; to become lean or emaciated; to pine. (b) To renounce or desert allegiance; to revolt or rebel. (c) To renounce or desert the faith; to apostatize. "These . . . for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." Luke viii. 13. (d) To perish; to vanish; to be lost. "How . . . can the soul . . . fall away into nothing?" Addison. (e) To decline gradually; to fade; to languish, or become faint. "One color falls away by just degrees, and another rises insensibly." Addison. -- To fall back. (a) To recede or retreat; to give way. (b) To fail of performing a promise or purpose; not to fulfill. -- To fall back upon. (a) (Mil.) To retreat for safety to (a stronger position in the rear, as to a fort or a supporting body of troops). (b) To have recourse to (a reserved fund, or some available expedient or support). -- To fall calm, to cease to blow; to become calm. -- To fall down. (a) To prostrate one's self in worship. "All kings shall fall down before him." Ps. lxxii. 11. (b) To sink; to come to the ground. "Down fell the beauteous youth." Dryden. (c) To bend or bow, as a suppliant. (d) (Naut.) To sail or drift toward the mouth of a river or other outlet. -- To fall flat, to produce no response or result; to fail of the intended effect; as, his speech fell flat. -- To fall foul of. (a) (Naut.) To have a collision with; to become entangled with (b) To attack; to make an assault upon. -- To fall from, to recede or depart from; not to adhere to; as, to fall from an agreement or engagement; to fall from allegiance or duty. -- To fall from grace (M. E. Ch.), to sin; to withdraw from the faith. -- To fall home (Ship Carp.), to curve inward; -- said of the timbers or upper parts of a ship's side which are much within a perpendicular. -- To fall in. (a) To sink inwards; as, the roof fell in. (b) (Mil.) To take one's proper or assigned place in line; as, to fall in on the right. (c) To come to an end; to terminate; to lapse; as, on the death of Mr. B., the annuuity, which he had so long received, fell in. (d) To become operative. "The reversion, to which he had been nominated twenty years before, fell in." Macaulay. -- To fall into one's hands, to pass, often suddenly or unexpectedly, into one's ownership or control; as, to spike cannon when they are likely to fall into the hands of the enemy. -- To fall in with. (a) To meet with accidentally; as, to fall in with a friend. (b) (Naut.) To meet, as a ship; also, to discover or come near, as land. (c) To concur with; to agree with; as, the measure falls in with popular opinion. (d) To comply; to yield to. "You will find it difficult to persuade learned men to fall in with your projects." Addison. -- To fall off. (a) To drop; as, fruits fall off when ripe. (b) To withdraw; to separate; to become detached; as, friends fall off in adversity. "Love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide." Shak. (c) To perish; to die away; as, words fall off by disuse. (d) To apostatize; to forsake; to withdraw from the faith, or from allegiance or duty.

    Those captive tribes . . . fell off
    From God to worship calves. Milton.

    (e) To forsake; to abandon; as, his customers fell off. (f) To depreciate; to change for the worse; to deteriorate; to become less valuable, abundant, or interesting; as, a falling off in the wheat crop; the magazine or the review falls off. "O Hamlet, what a falling off was there!" Shak. (g) (Naut.) To deviate or trend to the leeward of the point to which the head of the ship was before directed; to fall to leeward. -- To fall on. (a) To meet with; to light upon; as, we have fallen on evil days. (b) To begin suddenly and eagerly. "Fall on, and try the appetite to eat." Dryden. (c) To begin an attack; to assault; to assail. "Fall on, fall on, and hear him not." Dryden. (d) To drop on; to descend on. -- To fall out. (a) To quarrel; to begin to contend.

    A soul exasperated in ills falls out
    With everything, its friend, itself. Addison.

    (b) To happen; to befall; to chance. "There fell out a bloody quarrel betwixt the frogs and the mice." L'Estrange. (c) (Mil.) To leave the ranks, as a soldier. -- To fall over. (a) To revolt; to desert from one side to another. (b) To fall beyond. Shak. -- To fall short, to be deficient; as, the corn falls short; they all fall short in duty. -- To fall through, to come to nothing; to fail; as, the engageent has fallen through. - - To fall to, to begin. "Fall to, with eager joy, on homely food." Dryden. -- To fall under. (a) To come under, or within the limits of; to be subjected to; as, they fell under the jurisdiction of the emperor. (b) To come under; to become the subject of; as, this point did not fall under the cognizance or deliberations of the court; these things do not fall under human sight or observation. (c) To come within; to be ranged or reckoned with; to be subordinate to in the way of classification; as, these substances fall under a different class or order. -- To fall upon. (a) To attack. [See To fall on.] (b) To attempt; to have recourse to. "I do not intend to fall upon nice disquisitions." Holder. (c) To rush against.

    * Fall primarily denotes descending motion, either in a perpendicular or inclined direction, and, in most of its applications, implies, literally or figuratively, velocity, haste, suddenness, or violence. Its use is so various, and so mush diversified by modifying words, that it is not easy to enumerate its senses in all its applications.