FAL Idiom
a falling out
a disagreement, a break in friendship Guy and Jean had a falling out. They argued about religion.
a false move
a wrong move, a threatening action "A man with a gun said, ""If you make a false move, you're dead."""
a lot of falderal
a lot of foolish talk, a lot of bunk When you hear me speak Latin, you'll think it's a lot of falderal.
bottom fall out/drop out
to fall below an earlier lowest price When the bottom fell out of the coffee market many companies had to stop doing business.
break your fall
prevent serious injury when you fall He fell from the roof, but a tree helped to break his fall.
buffalo
frighten, bluff, intimidate The director shouts a lot, but don't let him buffalo you.
falderal
(See a lot of falderal)
fall apart
become to not work properly The equipment fell apart about six months after I bought it.
fall apart (at the seams)
be unable to cope or manage, come unglued After his wife died, he fell apart. He lost interest in everything.
fall asleep
begin to sleep, drop off Don't fall asleep while we're in church. It's embarrassing.
fall back
move back, go back The runner fell back from the rest of the runners when the race was half over.
fall back on something/someone
turn to for help when something else has failed She had to fall back on her father
fall behind
be unable to run as fast, drop behind You will fall behind in your work if you miss a day of school.
fall by the wayside
give up or fail before the finish He had a good chance of winning the competition but he fell by the wayside near the end.
fall flat
be unsuccessful, fail I think that my attempt at humor fell flat and now she doesn
fall for
begin to love, fall in love with When I was in Grade 8, I fell for Miss Kramer. She was beautiful.
fall for that
believe that, eat that Surely you're not going to fall for that story. It's nonsense.
fall from grace
lose approval The politician fell from grace with the public over the money scandal.
fall ill
become sick or ill The man fell ill last winter and has not recovered yet.
fall in line
do as others are doing, obey orders Although Barry doesn't like the new rules, he'll fall in line.
fall in love
begin to love, feel romantic about Michael and Rose have fallen in love. They're very happy.
fall in love with
begin to love someone I fell in love with her the first time that I saw her at the restaurant.
fall in with
become associated with a bad group of people He fell in with a bad group of friends and began to get lower marks.
fall into a trap
be tricked, be deceived When the lawyer asks you questions, don't fall into a trap.
fall into line
go and stand properly in a row (like soldiers) The students were forced to fall into line as they waited for the doors to open.
fall into my lap
find without looking, receive without asking Reg got another job offer today. Things seem to fall into his lap.
fall off
decrease The number of tourists to visit the island has fallen off recently.
fall off the wagon
become drunk again, return to a bad habit The old man fell off the wagon. He got drunk last night.
fall on
meet (troubles) The town had fallen on hard times before the new computer company moved to town and created many jobs.
fall on deaf ears
talk to people who will not listen, really deaf If you talk to the workers about management's problems, your message will fall on deaf ears.
fall on your sword
quit, resign, pull the pin I know I caused the problem, but I won't fall on my sword. They'll have to fire me.
fall-out
harmful effects, continuing effects We still feel the fall-out from his negative speech on abortion.
fall out of use
be no longer used That kind of stereo system has fallen out of use over the last 20 years.
fall over oneself
be extremely eager to do something or please someone They fell over themselves in their effort to please their host.
fall short
not able to do as well as planned I'm falling short of my career goals because I've been ill.
fall short (of one
not be as good as you expected, not succeed The new movie fell short of everyone
fall through
not happen, not succeed, not come off, not pan out His plans to write a novel fell through because he didn't get a government grant.
fall through the cracks
not be included, leave out These children fell through the cracks. They didn't learn to read.
fall to pieces
be unable to talk or reply, be overwhelmed When I see Mario, I just fall to pieces. He's so handsome!
fallen woman
prostitute, hooker The priest was trying to save the fallen women in his parish.
falling in love
beginning to feel love, being in love They say that falling in love is wonderful - marvellous!
falling-out
argument, disagreement, quarrel We had a falling-out during our holiday and we haven
false move
(See a false move)
highfalutin
proud, pretentious We need a musician, not some highfalutin rock star!
let the chips fall where they may
don
make a false move
reach for the phone or a gun, try to run away """Make a false move and I'll shoot your buttons off,"" the boy said."
one false move
one move to get away or call for help """One false move and you're dead,"" the gunman said to his hostage."
pride goeth before a fall
you lose self-respect before you do an evil deed Is this saying in the Bible? Pride goeth before a fall.
shortfall
loss, deficit Shoplifting is one of the reasons for the shortfall - for the deficit.
the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
"kids are like their parents; a chip off the old block; like father, like son" I looked at the father, then at the son, and I thought, The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
