fall away
Britishverb
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(of friendship) to be withdrawn
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to slope down
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Also, fall off . Withdraw one's friendship, support, or allegiance. For example, After the divorce, her friends slowly fell away . [Early 1500s]
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Also, fall off . Gradually decline in size or strength, as in The breeze slowly fell away , or, as Shakespeare put it ( King Lear , 1:2): “Love cools, friendship falls off, Brothers divide.” [Early 1500s]
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Drift from an established faith, cause, or principles. For example, I fell away from the Catholic Church when I was a teenager . [Early 1500]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Boyes intends to extract DNA samples from them via darts designed to break the skin, then fall away.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
Few women choose to study computer science in the first place, then "once you get more senior, women fall away", Hall said.
From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026
It could be those encounters that make the difference, but it is one such as the triumphs over Dundee and St Mirren that suggest they won't fall away.
From BBC • Jan. 14, 2026
Now, no matter where I am in the world, as I slide up to the window and watch the platform fall away, I feel the comfort of coming home.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025
Kids fall away or get dropped from the program if they don’t meet academic expectations.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
