fallback
Americannoun
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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
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.
Why this fallback to current convention, when the rest of the experience is about radical reinvention?
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026
However, Tencent’s close partnership with DeepSeek offers an important fallback option if Hunyuan fails to catch up.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
That means when fertilizer prices jump, corn becomes the more expensive bet and soybeans the cheaper fallback.
From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026
And, in the short term, experts say, coal remains the most readily available fallback.
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
I don’t remember my fallback career, but I got the lumberjack, too.
From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
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.
