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• fall line
  fall line

  noun

  an imaginary line, marked by waterfalls and rapids, where rivers descend abruptly from an upland to a lowland.
• Fall Line
  Fall Line

  noun

  a natural junction, running parallel to the E coast of the US, between the hard rocks of the Appalachians and the softer coastal plain, along which rivers form falls and rapids

fall line

American  

noun

1. an imaginary line, marked by waterfalls and rapids, where rivers descend abruptly from an upland to a lowland.

2. Fall Line, (in the eastern United States) the imaginary line between the Piedmont and the Atlantic coastal plain.

3. Skiing. the path of natural descent from one point on a slope to another.

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fall line ¹ British  

noun

1. skiing the natural downward course between two points on a slope

2. the edge of a plateau

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Fall Line ² British  

noun

1. a natural junction, running parallel to the E coast of the US, between the hard rocks of the Appalachians and the softer coastal plain, along which rivers form falls and rapids

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fall line Scientific  

/ fôl /

1. A line connecting the waterfalls of nearly parallel rivers that marks a drop in land level.

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Etymology

Origin of fall line

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Example Sentences

The racer is traversing the hill perpendicular to the fall line, almost moving in an upward direction.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2026

The black trails follow the mountain’s fall line for steep, technical descents and mandatory air, including rock slabs.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 29, 2022

Upstream above the fall line lies the Piedmont, which draws vacationers attracted by bucolic destinations and wineries.

From Washington Post • Jun. 3, 2021

On Thursday, a Netflix spokesperson said the company was raising prices “so that we can continue to offer more variety of TV shows and films - in addition to our great fall line up.”

From Reuters • Oct. 29, 2020

In the course of the seventeenth century the frontier was advanced up the Atlantic river courses, just beyond the "fall line," and the tidewater region became the settled area.

From The Frontier in American History by Turner, Frederick Jackson