| / English Dictionary |
FALL BACK
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Go back to bad behavior
Example:
Those who recidivate are often minor criminals
Synonyms:
fall back; lapse; recidivate; regress; relapse; retrogress
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Hypernyms (to "fall back" is one way to...):
regress; retrovert; return; revert; turn back (go back to a previous state)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sense 2
Meaning:
Retreat
Synonyms:
drop off; fall back; fall behind; recede
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Hypernyms (to "fall back" is one way to...):
regress; retrograde; retrogress (get worse or fall back to a previous condition)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Antonym:
gain (obtain advantages, such as points, etc.)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Move back and away from
Example:
The enemy fell back
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "fall back" is one way to...):
draw back; move back; pull away; pull back; recede; retire; retreat; withdraw (pull back or move away or backward)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall back"):
ebb; ebb away; ebb down; ebb off; ebb out (flow back or recede)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP
Derivation:
fallback (to break off a military action with an enemy)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.
Synonyms:
dawdle; fall back; fall behind; lag
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "fall back" is one way to...):
follow (to travel behind, go after, come after)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall back"):
drag; drop back; drop behind; get behind; hang back; trail (to lag or linger behind)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Sense 5
Meaning:
Fall backwards and down
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "fall back" is one way to...):
lean back; recline (move the upper body backwards and down)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Sense 6
Meaning:
Have recourse to
Example:
The government resorted to rationing meat
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "fall back" is one way to...):
apply; employ; use; utilise; utilize (put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Context examples:
This was the pride of Dave as wheel-dog, of Sol-leks as he pulled with all his strength; the pride that laid hold of them at break of camp, transforming them from sour and sullen brutes into straining, eager, ambitious creatures; the pride that spurred them on all day and dropped them at pitch of camp at night, letting them fall back into gloomy unrest and uncontent.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
But it's not as bad as it looks, and one can get on quite happily if one has something in one's self to fall back upon.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
We must fall back upon the old axiom that when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Time! was duly called, and the Jews, seeing that the affair was over, let their man’s head fall back with a crack upon the floor, and there he lay, his huge arms and legs asprawl, whilst the Corinthians and fighting-men crowded past him to shake the hand of his conqueror.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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