fall back on

Idioms  

1. Also, fall back upon. Rely on, have recourse to, as in I fall back on old friends in time of need, or When he lost his job he had to fall back upon his savings. [Mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

And Meta, unlike its big-tech peers, has little to fall back on if that ad business reaches its limits.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026

Norris never had that to fall back on.

From Slate • Mar. 20, 2026

Honda has popular gas-powered models such as the Pilot and the CR-V to fall back on if their ambitions with Sony fall through.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026

But winters in the Spiti Valley are long and quiet, with little agricultural work to fall back on.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026

Especially as, like most shot-down British airmen, she spoke only the most basic schoolgirl French and had no clever forged identity to fall back on in Nazi-occupied France.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein