fallback
Americannoun
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fallbacks
plural
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an act or instance of falling back.
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something or someone to turn or return to, especially for help or as an alternative.
His teaching experience would be a fallback if the business failed.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fallback
1750–60, noun, adj. use of verb phrase fall back
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.
See Examples For:
With shipping at a standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and gas, the Panama Canal has become a fallback route for energy shipments.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
The more concentrated flow helps maintain a similar peak fallback rate, and therefore roughly the same predicted flare brightness.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
“Without Congress, failed professionals will continue to use college sports as a fallback option — robbing the next class of young athletes of college scholarships,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
However that previous head coaching experience was one reason he was brought to Los Angeles as as the Kings’ top assistant in 2024 since it made him an ideal fallback candidate should Hiller falter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
It’s a fallback, it’s a vice, it’s an exit.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
By now, though, many have exhausted those fallbacks and fallen into debt.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 5, 2023
The two medications had been the the backbone of antibody treatment, and doctors were hard pressed to come up with fallbacks when they didn’t work against omicron.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 10, 2022
And the usual fallbacks when stage shows are scarce — television, film, even waiting tables — are unavailable during this phase of the pandemic.
From New York Times ● May 7, 2020
He added that “even with the fallbacks, we are not sure we’ll have enough to get to Sunday of this week.”
From Fox News ● Apr. 20, 2020
Her fallbacks, Target and Walmart, were no better.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2020
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.
