fall

fall:    1. to commit adultery

   The imagery is from falling from grace:

    It is their husband's faults, If wives do fall. (Shakespeare, Othello)

   Less often as a noun, and of any promiscuity:

    The Queen was convinced that what she called 'Bertie's fall' was at least in part responsible for Prince Albert's death. (R. Massie, 1992 — Bertie (later King Edward VII) had fallen in, with, on, and for Nellie Clifton, who had been introduced to his bed and embraces by fellow officers in camp in Ireland)

   2. to become pregnant

   A common modern use, which does not imply illegitimacy. Also as fall in the family way or fall pregnant:

    Annabel Birley has fallen again and delivered another (legitimate) Goldsmith into the world. (A. Waugh in Private Eye, 1980)

    The girl fell in the family way and was sent out of the house. (Mayhew, 1862)

    ... one of the Emalia girls fell pregnant, pregnancy being, of course, an immediate ticket to Auschwitz. (Keneally, 1982)

   To fall for a child or fall wrong to are obsolete:

    There was a lass... who fell wrong to a farmer's son where she had been serving, and he wouldn't marry her. (Saxon, 1878)

   3. to die

   On military service, from being hit by a bullet etc., although the death may not necessarily occur in battle:

    John Cornford had fallen the day after his coming of age. (Boyle, 1979)

   In Hitler's case, the word was used to cover his suicide:

    Adolf Hitler fell in his command post in the Reich Chancellery (official announcement of Hitler's death, 1 May 1945, in translation)

   And see fallen (the).

   4. to be sentenced to prison

   The descent caused by the disgrace and the reversal of fortune:

    I want you to follow my instructions when the case is tried, and if I fall I will find no fault with you. (Moore, 1893)

   5. American

   an arrest

   Against which possibility you may keep handy some fall money, to pay for a lawyer, put up bail, bribe the police, etc.

   6. to be born

   Of a quadruped which gives birth standing:

    The calf is lately fell. (Ellis, 1750)

   7. (of an aircraft) to crash

   It also falls frequently as it manoeuvres, meets air pockets, and makes a controlled landing:

    When the 747-400 fell, the Dalmanns lost their eighteen-year-old daughter. (Koontz, 1997)

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Synonyms:

Drop, descend, sink, drop down, Descent, dropping / Pass, come, be transferred, Discharge (of a river), emptying, disemboguement / Be dropped, be uttered carelessly, drop, Autumn, fall of the leaf / Declivity, slope, inclination / Be prostrated, fall down, Tumble, falling / Sink, be lowered, be depressed, Cataract, cascade, waterfall / Decrease, decline, be diminished, become less, die away, Extent of descent, amount of fall / Sin, err, transgress, lapse, trip, trespass, commit a fault, do amiss, go astray, Destruction, death, ruin, overthrow, downfall / Die, perish, come to destruction, Degradation, loss of eminence / Empty, disembogue, flow, be discharged, Apostasy, loss of innocence, lapse, declension, slip, going astray, failure / Happen, befall, come, Diminution, decrease, decline / Become (sick, asleep, in love, etc.), get, Sinking (of the voice), cadence, close

Look at other dictionaries:

Fall — (f[add]l), v. i. [imp. {Fell} (f[e^]l); p. p. {Fallen} (f[add]l n); 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… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
fall — [fôl] vi. fell, fallen, falling [ME fallen < OE feallan, to fall, akin to Ger fallen < IE base * phol , to fall > Lith púolu, to fall] I to come down by the force of gravity; drop; descend 1. to come down because detached, pushed,… … English World dictionary
Fall — bezeichnet: Absturz (Unfall), ein Sturz aus gewisser Höhe Freier Fall, die durch Gravitation bewirkte Bewegung eines Körpers Fall (Tau), in der Seemannssprache eine Leine zum Hochziehen und Herablassen von Segeln, Ruderblättern oder Schwertern… … Deutsch Wikipedia
fall — ► VERB (past fell; past part. fallen) 1) move rapidly and without control from a higher to a lower level. 2) collapse to the ground. 3) (fall off) become detached and drop to the ground. 4) hang down. 5) (of someone s f … English terms dictionary
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. [1913 Webster] 2. The act of dropping or tumbling from an erect posture; as, he was walking on ice, and… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Fall [1] — Fall, 1) die Bewegung, in welcher alle Körper von geringerer Masse, in Folge der Anziehungskraft der Massen gegen den Mittelpunkt größerer Körper, mit einer der größeren Masse letzterer proportionirten Schnelligkeit getrieben werden, in so fern… … Pierer's Universal-Lexikon
Fall — Fall, v. t. 1. To let fall; to drop. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] For every tear he falls, a Trojan bleeds. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. To sink; to depress; as, to fall the voice. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] 3. To diminish; to lessen or lower. [Obs.] [1913… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Fall — Fall, I Will Follow Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Fall, I Will Follow Álbum de Lacrimas Profundere Publicación 2002 Género(s) Gothic Rock … Wikipedia Español
fall — fall, drop, sink, slump, subside are comparable when they mean to go or to let go downward freely. They are seldom close synonyms, however, because of various specific and essential implications that tend to separate and distinguish them. Fall,… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
fall — fall·er; prat·fall; re·fall; crest·fall·en·ly; crest·fall·en·ness; pratt·fall; … English syllables
fall — [n1] descent; lowering abatement, belly flop*, cut, decline, declivity, decrease, diminution, dip, dive, downgrade, downward slope, drop, dwindling, ebb, falling off, header*, incline, lapse, lessening, nose dive*, plummet, plunge, pratfall*,… … New thesaurus

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fall

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How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms

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