fallout

or fall-out

[ fawl-out ]

See synonyms for fallout on Thesaurus.com

noun

the settling to the ground of airborne particles ejected into the atmosphere from the earth by explosions, eruptions, forest fires, etc., especially such settling from nuclear explosions (radioactive fallout ).: Compare rainout.
the particles themselves.: Compare rainout.

an unexpected or incidental effect, outcome, or product: the psychological fallout of being obese.
effects; results: emotional fallout from a divorce.

Origin of fallout

First recorded in 1945–50; noun use of verb phrase fall out

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fallout in a sentence

Cassandra, whose hair has already begun to fall out from her court-mandated chemotherapy, could face a similar outcome.
Should Teens Have The Right To Die? | Brandy Zadrozny | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
Records are combed, correspondence revealed, skeletons fall out of cupboards.
Three Dicks: Cheney, Nixon, Richard III and the Art of Reputation Rehab | Clive Irving | July 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The ringlets had been allowed to fall out and in their place was a gentler, Farrah Fawcett-style wave.
Why Kate's Hair Matters | Tom Sykes | July 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Deficiencies in vital nutrients cause skin to dry, lips to crack, and hair to fall out.
How Famines Make Future Generations Fat | Carrie Arnold | May 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Ivers recalls thumbing through one of Kenney's books one day, only to have a check for $186,000 fall out.
Doug Kenney: The Odd Comic Genius Behind ‘Animal House’ and National Lampoon | Robert Sam Anson | March 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

For the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and a short covering cannot cover both.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | Various
And I will break thy bow in thy left hand, and I will cause thy arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | Various
To do this, the end of the seed buds may be cut, when most of the seeds will fall out if the buds are fully ripe and dry.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.
It spots the leaf with hard brown spots that often fall out, producing holes fatal to the value of the crop.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.
If he has made the tooth of a poor man to fall out, he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver.
The Oldest Code of Laws in the World | Hammurabi, King of Babylon

British Dictionary definitions for fallout

fallout

/ (ˈfɔːlˌaʊt) /

noun

the descent of solid material in the atmosphere onto the earth, esp of radioactive material following a nuclear explosion
any solid particles that so descend

informal side-effects; secondary consequences

verbfall out (intr, adverb)

informal to quarrel or disagree
(intr) to happen or occur

military to leave a parade or disciplinary formation

sentence substitute

military the order to leave a parade or disciplinary formation

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 fallout

fallout

Leave one's place in military ranks, as in After inspection they were ordered to fall out. [First half of 1800s]

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