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]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fall back on

Retirees often have other sources of retirement income to fall back on, such as Social Security, maybe a pension, maybe part-time work.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

Newcastle hardly had a stellar season themselves - finishing a disappointing 12th place - but the difference is Spurs have greater revenues to fall back on as they try to bounce back come August.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026

And now, when Smith doesn’t get a call, he has ABS to fall back on.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

You can’t fall back on that money in an emergency like you could with a retirement account.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

As writers, then, we should try to get into our readers’ heads and be mindful of how easy it is to fall back on parochial jargon and private abstractions.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker