fell

[ fel ]

See synonyms for: fell felled feller fellest on Thesaurus.com

verb

simple past tense of fall.

Other definitions for fell (2 of 5)

fell²

[ fel ]

verb (used with object)

to knock, strike, shoot, or cut down; cause to fall: to fell a moose;to fell a tree.
Sewing. to finish (a seam) by sewing the edge down flat.

noun

Lumbering. the amount of timber cut down in one season.
Sewing. a seam finished by felling.

Origin of fell

First recorded before 900; Middle English fellen, fillen, fullen, Old English fellan, fyllan “to cut, cut down, destroy, shed (tears),” causative of feallan “to fall, fall down”; cognate with Gothic falljan, Old Frisian falla, fella, Old High German fellen, German fällen “to make fall”; see origin at fall

Other definitions for fell (3 of 5)

fell³

[ fel ]

adjective

fierce; ferocious; dreadful; savage.
destructive; deadly: fell poison;fell disease.

Origin of fell

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English fel “treacherous, deceitful, false,” from Old French, nominative of felon “wicked”; see origin at felon¹

Other words from fell

fell·ness, noun

Other definitions for fell (4 of 5)

fell⁴

[ fel ]

nounChiefly Literary.

the skin or hide of an animal; pelt.

Origin of fell

⁴

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English fel(l); cognate with Dutch vel, German Fell, Old Norse -fjall (as in berfjall “bearskin”), Gothic -fill (in thrutsfill “leprosy,” literally “scab skin”); akin to Latin pellis “skin, hide,” Greek péltē “small, light, leather-covered shield”

Other definitions for fell (5 of 5)

fell⁵

[ fel ]

nounScot. and North England.

an upland pasture, moor, or thicket; a highland plateau.

Origin of fell

⁵

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English fel “hill, mountain; upland or pasture; a moor or down”; from Old Norse fjall, -fell, “hill, mountain,” akin to German Fels “rock, cliff”

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fell in a sentence

Still, never far from their thoughts is the knowledge that they, too, could be felled by the disease.
In a relentless pandemic, nursing-home workers are worn down and stressed out | Will Englund | December 3, 2020 | Washington Post
Though Christensen meant something more specific, disruption came to describe the risk that incumbents would be felled by younger, nimbler competitors.
Why industries don’t get disrupted like they used to | Walter Frick | November 21, 2020 | Quartz
Instead, many emotional reactions to the pandemic detected in surveys may reflect understandable demoralization and grief at painful losses of jobs, social contacts and loved ones felled by the virus, Pies wrote August 24 in Psychiatric Times.
‘Deaths of despair’ are rising. It’s time to define despair | Bruce Bower | November 2, 2020 | Science News
Vegetal decay hangs thick in the air, trapped beneath the rotting innards of a felled beech tree.
How to count insects from space | Katie McLean | October 21, 2020 | MIT Technology Review
If we talk about conversions, then again, in most cases there is a fell.
Marketing strategies during COVID-19 times | Evelina Brown | July 13, 2020 | Search Engine Watch

So, is Rampal really that different from a corrupt, charismatic megachurch leader felled by scandal?
Is India’s Fallen ‘God-Man’ So Different From a Megachurch Pastor? | Jay Michaelson | November 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
To make room for these plantations, vast areas of rainforest are felled, which leads to primary and secondary loss of species.
Our Taste for Cheap Palm Oil Is Killing Chimpanzees | Carrie Arnold | July 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Was the majority leader a martyr for his party, felled by the revolution he led?
Republicans Panicked After Eric Cantor Loss: ‘This Is Like Robespierre’ | Ben Jacobs, Tim Mak | June 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
If Conyers doesn't make the ballot, he would be the second Michigan incumbent to be felled by these issues in the past two years.
After 49 Years In Congress, John Conyers May Not Make The Ballot | Ben Jacobs | May 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The guns raised in unison, the sighting of the game, the rounds of shots, the thud as a prey is felled, and then the silence.
The Final Shoot: How an English Country Novel Set in 1913 Explains 2013 | Ilana Bet-El | November 30, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
But not too big for the ragged old arm that felled it down as an axe fells the last rings of a stricken tree.
A Lost Hero | Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward and Herbert D. Ward
He attempted to struggle upward, but with a strength borne of excitement, she pushed him and he felled backward upon the bed.
The Homesteader | Oscar Micheaux
Near the stream we found some felled trees and the staves of a cask.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2] | Phillip Parker King
It is well known in Sweden that when a pine forest is felled, a growth, not of pine but of birch, immediately springs up.
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry | Thomas Anderson
Small poplar trees were quickly felled in the neighboring forest, and their branches lopped off.
Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail | Arthur R. Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for fell (1 of 5)

fell¹

/ (fɛl) /

verb(tr)

to cut or knock down: to fell a tree; to fell an opponent
needlework to fold under and sew flat (the edges of a seam)

noun

US and Canadian the timber felled in one season
a seam finished by felling

Origin of fell

Old English fellan; related to Old Norse fella, Old High German fellen; see fall

Derived forms of fell

fellable, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for fell (2 of 5)

fell²

/ (fɛl) /

adjective

archaic cruel or fierce; terrible
archaic destructive or deadly: a fell disease

one fell swoop a single hasty action or occurrence

Origin of fell

C13 fel, from Old French: cruel, from Medieval Latin fellō villain; see felon 1

Derived forms of fell

fellness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for fell (3 of 5)

fell³

/ (fɛl) /

verb

the past tense of fall

British Dictionary definitions for fell (4 of 5)

fell⁴

/ (fɛl) /

noun

an animal skin or hide

Origin of fell

⁴

Old English; related to Old High German fel skin, Old Norse berfjall bearskin, Latin pellis skin; see peel 1

British Dictionary definitions for fell (5 of 5)

fell⁵

/ (fɛl) /

noun

(often plural) Northern English and Scot
- a mountain, hill, or tract of upland moor
- (in combination): fell-walking

Origin of fell

⁵

C13: from Old Norse fjall; related to Old High German felis rock

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with fell

fell

see one fell swoop.

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