fall away
Britishverb
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(of friendship) to be withdrawn
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to slope down
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Also, fall off . Withdraw one's friendship, support, or allegiance. For example, After the divorce, her friends slowly fell away . [Early 1500s]
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Also, fall off . Gradually decline in size or strength, as in The breeze slowly fell away , or, as Shakespeare put it ( King Lear , 1:2): “Love cools, friendship falls off, Brothers divide.” [Early 1500s]
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Drift from an established faith, cause, or principles. For example, I fell away from the Catholic Church when I was a teenager . [Early 1500]
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.
A few minutes after liftoff, its two halves will separate and fall away, allowing Roman to continue its journey into space.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Read together, these novels circle the questions posed by “Lord of the Flies”: What are we human beings once the familiar social structures that sustain us fall away?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
In a third round that saw challengers rise but ultimately fall away, Wyndham Clark stood firm to position himself as the overwhelming favourite to win a second US Open title.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
It helps, too, that, by the nature of the film’s long-winded narrative structure, we’re able to witness the pretenses between Mary and Sam slowly fall away.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
You see, the river didn’t fall away beneath Nettle; it tightened around her!
From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
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.
