fall on
Britishverb
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Also: fall upon. to attack or snatch (an army, booty, etc)
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to fail, esp in a ridiculous or humiliating manner
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to emerge unexpectedly well from a difficult situation
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Also, fall upon.
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Attack suddenly and viciously, as in They fell on the guards and overpowered them . [c. 1400]
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Meet with, encounter, as in They fell on hard times . [Late 1500s]
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Find by chance, discover, as in We fell upon the idea last Saturday night . [Mid-1600s]
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Be the responsibility or duty of someone, as in It fell on Clara to support the entire family . [Mid-1800s] Also see the subsequent idioms beginning with fall on .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, said discussions with Washington would be “meaningless” if bombs continued to fall on Lebanon.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
Rather than picking a fight with the White House, Blanco said, the judges are letting the top prosecutor fall on his face.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026
Using details like the number of shadows that fall on each guest’s neck, she deduced features such as the number of light sources the show uses, as well as the 360-degree studio setup.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026
While much of the spotlight in energy tends to fall on exploration and production companies, oil equipment names offer a different kind of opportunity.
From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026
“All the time I’m here I’m going to be terrified,” Theodora said, “thinking one of those hills will fall on us.”
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
