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

The question is whether it’s a pause or a more sustained fall back down to Earth.

From Barron's • May 19, 2026

It’s easy enough in theory to fall back on the principle, “well, too bad — let this be a lesson to you!”

From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026

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

Once airborne, microplastics can also fall back to Earth, adding to pollution in oceans and soils around the world.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2026

I fall back, slowly inching closer to the exit.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

Related Words

• recede
• withdraw