fall behind
Britishverb
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to drop back; fail to keep up
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to be in arrears, as with a payment
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Also, get behind.
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Lag, fail to keep up, as in You really must keep up with the others; if you fall behind you could get lost . [First half of 1500s]
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Be financially in arrears, as in He fell behind in his payments . [Mid-1800s]
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.
BANGKOK—Economic damage from high energy prices and rising borrowing costs is mounting globally, splitting the world into a new set of winners and losers as countries with limited exposure to the artificial-intelligence boom fall behind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
On the flip side, Belgium at $725 billion and Ireland at $714 billion would be economies he could fall behind if the Musk industrial complex fell into a bear market.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
Kyle Chan, an expert on China at the Brookings Institution, said China appears increasingly willing to discuss an agreement as it appears to fall behind its U.S. competitors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
The CMS has the power to try to recover arrears if parents fall behind with payments.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Back in January he had warned the boys, “We can’t tarry with scholastic laggards . . . any who fall behind are just out, that’s all.”
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
