fall back

British  

verb

1. to recede or retreat

2. to have recourse (to)

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noun

1. a retreat

2. a reserve, esp money, that can be called upon in need

3. 1. anything to which one can have recourse as a second choice

   2. ( as modifier )

      a fall-back position

fall back Idioms  

1. 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]

2. Recede, as in The waves fell back from the shore . [c. 1800]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fall back

What we most want to hear: Does he share his hawkish colleagues’ concern that inflation is not going to fall back to 2% unless the Fed raises rates?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Gonzalez certainly did so when he left Barcelona, where his professional career started, and has such experience to fall back on.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Without a large increase in rotation after each encounter, the time required for the stripped material to fall back toward the black hole remains relatively steady.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026

That leaves you with enough money, roughly, to 90, and then you’d have only your guaranteed income to fall back on.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

But it’s not as bad as it looks, and one can get on quite happily if one has something in one’s self to fall back upon.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Related Words

• recede
• withdraw