Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Fall \Fall\ (f[add]l), v. i. [imp. {Fell}; p. p. {Fallen}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Falling}.] [AS. feallan; akin to D. vallen, OS.
   & OHG. fallan, G. fallen, Icel. Falla, Sw. falla, Dan. falde,
   Lith. pulti, L. fallere to deceive, Gr. sfa`llein to cause to
   fall, Skr. sphal, sphul, to tremble. Cf. {Fail}, {Fell}, v.
   t., to cause to fall.]
   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 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.

   3. To find a final outlet; to discharge its waters; to empty;
      -- with into; as, the river Rhone falls into the
      Mediterranean.

   4. 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.

   5. To cease to be active or strong; to die away; to lose
      strength; to subside; to become less intense; as, the wind
      falls.

   6. To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; -- said of
      the young of certain animals. --Shak.

   7. 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
      falls; stocks fell two points.

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

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

   8. To be overthrown or captured; to be destroyed.

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

   9. 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.

   10. To become insnared or embarrassed; to be entrapped; to be
       worse off than before; asm to fall into error; to fall
       into difficulties.

   11. 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.

   12. To sink; to languish; to become feeble or faint; as, our
       spirits rise and fall with our fortunes.

   13. 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.

   14. 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.

   15. 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.

   16. 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. ).

   17. 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.

   18. To belong or appertain.

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

   19. 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.

   Note: 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.

Fall \Fall\, n.
   1. 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.

   2. The act of dropping or tumbling from an erect posture; as,
      he was walking on ice, and had a fall.

   3. Death; destruction; overthrow; ruin.

            They thy fall conspire.               --Denham.

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

   4. 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.

   5. The surrender of a besieged fortress or town; as, the fall
      of Sebastopol.

   6. Diminution or decrease in price or value; depreciation;
      as, the fall of prices; the fall of rents.

   7. A sinking of tone; cadence; as, the fall of the voice at
      the close of a sentence.

   8. Declivity; the descent of land or a hill; a slope.

   9. 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.

   10. 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.

   11. Extent of descent; the distance which anything falls; as,
       the water of a stream has a fall of five feet.

   12. 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.

   13. That which falls; a falling; as, a fall of rain; a heavy
       fall of snow.

   14. The act of felling or cutting down. ``The fall of
       timber.'' --Johnson.

   15. 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.

   16. Formerly, a kind of ruff or band for the neck; a falling
       band; a faule. --B. Jonson.

   17. That part (as one of the ropes) of a tackle to which the
       power is applied in hoisting.

   {Fall herring} (Zo["o]l.), 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.

Fall \Fall\, v. t.
   1. To let fall; to drop. [Obs.]

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

   2. To sink; to depress; as, to fall the voice. [Obs.]

   3. To diminish; to lessen or lower. [Obs.]

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

   4. To bring forth; as, to fall lambs. [R.] --Shak.

   5. To fell; to cut down; as, to fall a tree. [Prov. Eng. &
      Local, U.S.]

Source : WordNet®

fall
     n 1: the season when the leaves fall from the trees; "in the fall
          of 1973" [syn: {autumn}]
     2: a sudden drop from an upright position; "he had a nasty
        spill on the ice" [syn: {spill}, {tumble}]
     3: the lapse of mankind into sinfulness because of the sin of
        Adam and Eve; "women have been blamed ever since the Fall"
     4: a downward slope or bend [syn: {descent}, {declivity}, {decline},
         {declination}, {declension}, {downslope}] [ant: {ascent}]
     5: a lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity; "a
        fall from virtue"
     6: a sudden decline in strength or number or importance; "the
        fall of the House of Hapsburg" [syn: {downfall}] [ant: {rise}]
     7: a movement downward; "the rise and fall of the tides" [ant:
        {rise}]
     8: the act of surrendering (under agreed conditions); "they
        were protected until the capitulation of the fort" [syn: {capitulation},
         {surrender}]
     9: the time of day immediately following sunset; "he loved the
        twilight"; "they finished before the fall of night" [syn:
        {twilight}, {dusk}, {gloaming}, {nightfall}, {evenfall}, {crepuscule},
         {crepuscle}]
     10: when a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat [syn: {pin}]
     11: a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity; "it was a
         miracle that he survived the drop from that height" [syn:
          {drop}]
     12: a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity; "a drop of 57
         points on the Dow Jones index"; "there was a drop in
         pressure in the pulmonary artery"; "a dip in prices";
         "when that became known the price of their stock went
         into free fall" [syn: {drop}, {dip}, {free fall}]
     [also: {fell}, {fallen}]

fall
     v 1: descend in free fall under the influence of gravity; "The
          branch fell from the tree"; "The unfortunate hiker fell
          into a crevasse"
     2: move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way;
        "The temperature is going down"; "The barometer is
        falling"; "The curtain fell on the diva"; "Her hand went
        up and then fell again" [syn: {descend}, {go down}, {come
        down}] [ant: {rise}, {ascend}]
     3: pass suddenly and passively into a state of body or mind;
        "fall into a trap"; "She fell ill"; "They fell out of
        favor"; "Fall in love"; "fall asleep"; "fall prey to an
        imposter"; "fall into a strange way of thinking"; "she
        fell to pieces after she lost her work"
     4: come under, be classified or included; "fall into a
        category"; "This comes under a new heading" [syn: {come}]
     5: fall from clouds; "rain, snow and sleet were falling";
        "Vesuvius precipitated its fiery, destructive rage on
        Herculaneum" [syn: {precipitate}, {come down}]
     6: suffer defeat, failure, or ruin; "We must stand or fall";
        "fall by the wayside"
     7: decrease in size, extent, or range; "The amount of homework
        decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin
        pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fall to under a
        hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper" [syn: {decrease},
         {diminish}, {lessen}] [ant: {increase}]
     8: die, as in battle or in a hunt; "Many soldiers fell at
        Verdun"; "Several deer have fallen to the same gun"; "The
        shooting victim fell dead"
     9: touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly; "Light
        fell on her face"; "The sun shone on the fields"; "The
        light struck the golden necklace"; "A strange sound struck
        my ears" [syn: {shine}, {strike}]
     10: be captured; "The cities fell to the enemy"
     11: occur at a specified time or place; "Christmas falls on a
         Monday this year"; "The accent falls on the first
         syllable"
     12: yield to temptation or sin; "Adam and Eve fell"
     13: lose office or power; "The government fell overnight"; "The
         Qing Dynasty fell with Sun Yat-sen"
     14: to be given by assignment or distribution; "The most
         difficult task fell on the youngest member of the team";
         "The onus fell on us"; "The pressure to succeed fell on
         the yougest student"
     15: move in a specified direction; "The line of men fall
         forward"
     16: be due; "payments fall on the 1st of the month"
     17: lose one's chastity; "a fallen woman"
     18: to be given by right or inheritance; "The estate fell to the
         oldest daughter"
     19: come into the possession of; "The house accrued to the
         oldest son" [syn: {accrue}]
     20: fall to somebody by assignment or lot; "The task fell to
         me"; "It fell to me to notify the parents of the victims"
         [syn: {light}]
     21: be inherited by; "The estate fell to my sister"; "The land
         returned to the family"; "The estate devolved to an heir
         that everybody had assumed to be dead" [syn: {return}, {pass},
          {devolve}]
     22: slope downward; "The hills around here fall towards the
         ocean"
     23: lose an upright position suddenly; "The vase fell over and
         the water spilled onto the table"; "Her hair fell across
         her forehead" [syn: {fall down}]
     24: drop oneself to a lower or less erect position; "She fell
         back in her chair"; "He fell to his knees"
     25: fall or flow in a certain way; "This dress hangs well"; "Her
         long black hair flowed down her back" [syn: {hang}, {flow}]
     26: assume a disappointed or sad expression; "Her face fell when
         she heard that she would be laid off"; "his crest fell"
     27: be cast down; "his eyes fell"
     28: come out; issue; "silly phrases fell from her mouth"
     29: be born, used chiefly of lambs; "The lambs fell in the
         afternoon"
     30: begin vigorously; "The prisoners fell to work right away"
     31: go as if by falling; "Grief fell from our hearts"
     32: come as if by falling; "Night fell"; "Silence fell" [syn: {descend},
          {settle}]
     [also: {fell}, {fallen}]