fallback
an act or instance of falling back.
something or someone to turn or return to, especially for help or as an alternative: His teaching experience would be a fallback if the business failed.
Also fall-back . of or designating something kept in reserve or as an alternative: The negotiators agreed on a fallback position.
Origin of fallback
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use fallback in a sentence
I fall back into a dream and then suddenly there is a tapping on the window just above my bed.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTSome contemporary police have military backgrounds to fall back on.
A Veteran’s View: NYC Cold War Between Cops and City Hall | Matt Gallagher | December 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFighters from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other groups did not fall back.
After each battle, though, the Union forces danced around the Confederate lines, forcing rebel troops to fall back.
Atlanta’s Fall Foretold The End Of Civil War Bloodshed | Marc Wortman | September 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSmokers, for example, who may have gone weeks without a cigarette could fall back into a habit after just one slip-up.
When Is It OK to Cheat? The Pros and Cons of Cheat Days | DailyBurn | July 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
At last even Massna had to confess himself beaten and fall back on Santarem.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonEither: we cannot give you what you ask, so fall back onto the defensive; or, go ahead, we will give you the means.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonThe next moment he understood what the last resource was the two men were going to fall back upon.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. MatthewsHe may be in danger here, but there is almost certain ruin before him if he is left to fall back into his old way of life.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands | R.M. BallantyneBut after an obstinate and bloody conflict they were compelled to fall back with a loss of 1700 killed and 500 prisoners.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel Munsell
British Dictionary definitions for fall back
to recede or retreat
(foll by on or upon) to have recourse (to)
a retreat
a reserve, esp money, that can be called upon in need
anything to which one can have recourse as a second choice
(as modifier): a fall-back position
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 fallback
Give ground, retreat, as in The troops fell back before the relentless enemy assault, or He stuck to his argument, refusing to fall back. [c. 1600]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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