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(of friendship) to be withdrawn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.
Few women choose to study computer science in the first place, then "once you get more senior, women fall away", Hall said.
From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026
Andrew's prediction: I don't think Villa will fall away after losing to Arsenal.
From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026
If enough renewable energy and battery storage is brought onstream, fossil fuels will no longer set the price of electricity and costs will fall away.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 2, 2025
Now, no matter where I am in the world, as I slide up to the window and watch the platform fall away, I feel the comfort of coming home.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025
She let the world fall away for a moment and then she saw it: wide-open skies.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
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.
