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(of friendship) to be withdrawn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.
But when her mother died, that sense of usefulness fell away overnight.
Andrew's prediction: I don't think Villa will fall away after losing to Arsenal.
From BBC
When they got their draw with 10 men against Arsenal at the end of November, I thought they were in the title race, but they have completely fallen away.
From BBC
McIlroy's victory at the Masters came 14 years after he looked set to win at Augusta National, having led by four shots after three rounds in 2011 before falling away.
From BBC
But I hear a loud crack and sense my glasses falling away as I stagger backward.
From Literature
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.
