fall in
Britishverb
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to collapse; no longer act as a support
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to adopt a military formation, esp as a soldier taking his place in a line
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(of a lease) to expire
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(of land) to come into the owner's possession on the expiry of the lease
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(often foll by with)
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to meet and join
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to agree with or support a person, suggestion, etc
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to make a mistake or come to grief
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to become pregnant
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Take one's place in formation or in the ranks, as in The sergeant ordered the troops to fall in . A related expression is fall into , as in They all fell into their places . [Early 1600s] Also see fall into .
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Sink inward, cave in, as in The snow was so heavy that we feared the roof would fall in . [Early 1700s] Also see under drop in ; the subsequent idioms beginning with fall in ; fall into .
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.
She said the long-term fall in butterfly populations, dating back to the 1970s, had been driven by their habitats being destroyed or degraded.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The Italian jockey only recently resumed riding a few weeks ago after missing five months because of a fall in January at Gulfstream Park.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
Krishna said the launch of the company’s z17 mainframe and the associated software stack in the second quarter ended up being “worse than our expectations” for infrastructure revenue to fall in the low-single-digit range.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
At the moment I like government bonds as protection against a major fall in stocks if traders turn sour on artificial intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
My heart thumped the name “Armando,” whispered hoarsely as in the radio soap operas, and I willed him to look up and fall in love with me at first sight.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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.
