falling-out

[faw-ling-out]

noun

plural

fallings-out, falling-outs 

1. a quarrel or estrangement between persons formerly in close association with one another.

Word History and Origins

Origin of falling-out¹

1560–70; nominalization of verb phrase fall out; -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Do at one point worked for Nguyen as her chief of staff after she was elected to the board in 2007, but the two had a public falling-out when Do campaigned to take the county seat in 2016.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He resigned four years later, after a public falling-out with the director of the National Institutes of Health.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The pair have never had a falling-out, and some people close to them say Netanyahu sees their relationship like that of a father and son.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He left after the two had a falling-out after Musk demanded that he should become its CEO or have it merge with Tesla, the electric-vehicle maker controlled by Musk.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But Burns’ actions appear far more logical when viewed with consideration for the possibility that what he feared most was not a personal falling-out with Nixon but the prospect of jeopardizing the integrity of the entire U.S. economy.

Read more on Slate

Related Words

• altercation 
• run-in 
• spat 
• tiff