Common Phrasal Verbs with FALL in English

• Fall about            

Meaning: Laugh so much that one’s entire body moves somewhat uncontrollably

E.g. Every time he performed the trick people would fall about laughing.

• Fall apart            

Meaning: Disintegrate

E.g. My old briefcase is falling apart. I’ll have to buy a new one.

• Fall apart            

Meaning: Be emotionally in crisis

E.g. As a result of being addicted to heroin, she was falling apart.

• Fall away            

Meaning: Cease to support a person or cause

E.g. After the divorce, all his friends fell away one by one.

• Fall back on

Meaning: Use something for support in a difficult situation

E.g. I have $10000 in my savings to fall back on.

• Fall behind        

Meaning: Be late (for a regular event)

E.g. You’re falling behind with the rent.

• Fall behind        

Meaning: Be progressively below average in performance

E.g. It’s not like John to fall behind in maths.

• Fall down            

Meaning: Fall to the ground, to collapse

E.g. The beams supporting the roof had rotted, causing the entire house to fall down.

• Fall down            

Meaning: Fail

E.g. That is where your reasoning falls down.

• Fall for  

Meaning: Be fooled; to walk into a trap or respond to a scam or trick

E.g. I can’t believe how many people still fall for the coin glued to the sidewalk.

• Fall for  

Meaning: Fall in love with someone

E.g. He really fell for the attractive waitress at his favorite restaurant.

• Fall in    

Meaning: Collapse inwards

E.g. The heavy rain caused the roof to fall in.

• Fall in    

Meaning: Come to an end; to terminate; to lapse

E.g. On the death of Mr. B., the annuity, which he had so long received, fell in.

• Fall into

Meaning: Begin to do something without intending to

E.g. He fell into conversation with a girl at the bar.

• Fall in with        

Meaning: Join (a group of people)

E.g. He has fallen in with a bad lot.

• Fall in with        

Meaning: Accept

E.g. It seemed like a good idea, so we fell in with it.

• Fall into              

Meaning: Go into something by falling

E.g. The cat might fall into the pool if you’re not careful.

• Fall into              

Meaning: Enter something without having planned it

E.g. Most of us didn’t plan to be designers; we just fell into the job.

• Fall into              

Meaning: Be classified as; to fall under

E.g. That falls into three categories.

• Fall off  

Meaning: Become detached or to drop from

E.g. A button fell off my coat.

• Fall off  

Meaning: Diminish in size, value etc.

E.g. Business always falls off in the winter.

• Fall on  

Meaning: Experience; to suffer; to fall upon

E.g. With the rise of the Internet, some media fell on hard times.

• Fall on  

Meaning: Be assigned to; to acquire a new responsibility, duty or burden

E.g. This decision is important, and it falls on you to make it.

• Fall on  

Meaning: Occur on a particular day

E.g. The first day of spring this year will fall on a Tuesday.

• Fall out

Meaning: Come out of something by falling

E.g. I opened the cupboard and a can fell out onto my foot.

• Fall out

Meaning: Cease to be on friendly terms

E.g. Dave and I fell out after a long argument.

• Fall out

Meaning: Leave one’s current location to report for duty at a new location

E.g. The company fell out for an artillery drill.

• Fall over yourself

Meaning: Be enthusiastic about doing something

E.g. He is falling over himself to work with us.

• Fall through      

Meaning: Be unsuccessful, abort, come to nothing/naught; to be cancelled; not to proceed

E.g. Their plans to go hiking Saturday fell through because it rained.

• Fall under          

Meaning: Belong to for purposes of categorization

E.g. The botany handbooks in the library fall under Plant Biology.

• Fall upon            

Meaning: Fall on; to experience; to suffer

E.g. With the rise of the Internet, some media fell upon hard times.

Phrasal Verbs with Fall | Image