fall on
Britishverb
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Also: fall upon. to attack or snatch (an army, booty, etc)
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to fail, esp in a ridiculous or humiliating manner
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to emerge unexpectedly well from a difficult situation
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Also, fall upon.
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Attack suddenly and viciously, as in They fell on the guards and overpowered them . [c. 1400]
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Meet with, encounter, as in They fell on hard times . [Late 1500s]
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Find by chance, discover, as in We fell upon the idea last Saturday night . [Mid-1600s]
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Be the responsibility or duty of someone, as in It fell on Clara to support the entire family . [Mid-1800s] Also see the subsequent idioms beginning with fall on .
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.
SK Hynix’s Korean shares plummeted 15%—their steepest one-day fall on record—following the chip maker’s red-hot U.S. debut on Friday.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
A large proportion of the savings will also fall on the government's so-called multidisciplinary research facilities used by researchers across the UK to answer basic scientific questions.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
The practical issue siblings face is that caregiving duties invariably fall on them unevenly.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
SpaceX shares closed at $156.11 with a nearly 1% gain on Tuesday, a slight recovery from a 16% fall on Monday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
"I'm sorry I said you'd fall on the ice. I was just mad you called me silly."
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
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.
