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• fall line
  fall line

  noun

  an imaginary line, marked by waterfalls and rapids, where rivers descend abruptly from an upland to a lowland.
• Fall Line
  Fall Line

  noun

  a natural junction, running parallel to the E coast of the US, between the hard rocks of the Appalachians and the softer coastal plain, along which rivers form falls and rapids

fall line

American  

noun

1. an imaginary line, marked by waterfalls and rapids, where rivers descend abruptly from an upland to a lowland.

2. Fall Line, (in the eastern United States) the imaginary line between the Piedmont and the Atlantic coastal plain.

3. Skiing. the path of natural descent from one point on a slope to another.

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Fall Line ¹ British  

noun

1. a natural junction, running parallel to the E coast of the US, between the hard rocks of the Appalachians and the softer coastal plain, along which rivers form falls and rapids

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fall line ² British  

noun

1. skiing the natural downward course between two points on a slope

2. the edge of a plateau

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fall line Scientific  

/ fôl /

1. A line connecting the waterfalls of nearly parallel rivers that marks a drop in land level.

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Etymology

Origin of fall line

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fall line Fall Line

The racer is traversing the hill perpendicular to the fall line, almost moving in an upward direction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026

The black trails follow the mountain’s fall line for steep, technical descents and mandatory air, including rock slabs.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 29, 2022

The Ocmulgee River runs along the fall line, which separates Georgia’s uplands from its vast coastal plain.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2022

On Thursday, a Netflix spokesperson said the company was raising prices “so that we can continue to offer more variety of TV shows and films - in addition to our great fall line up.”

From Reuters ● Oct. 29, 2020

At the opening of the eighteenth century the tide of population had swept inland to the "fall line", the westward boundary of the established settlements.

From The Conquest of the Old Southwest; the romantic story of the early pioneers into Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, 1740-1790 by Henderson, Archibald

Mercer is a native of Alexandria, Va., and serves as president of the Fall Line Consulting firm, which advises companies in the clean energy sector.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 19, 2022

On March 12, the couple were wed at Fall Line Station, an events venue in Macon, before 190 guests, all of whom were required to show negative Covid tests before attending.

From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2022

The road starts to get hilly near Mill­edgeville, as the Antebellum Trail roughly follows the Fall Line, where the elevation drops dramatically before sloping and leveling off to the sea near Savannah.

From Washington Post

Some newcomers and many old settlers crossed the Tidewater and pushed over the Fall Line.

From The Colonization of North America 1492-1783 by Bolton, Herbert Eugene

Within Virginia the centers of tobacco production shifted from the older, worn-out Tidewater lands to the newer, richer soils along the Fall Line, on the Piedmont, and in the Northern Neck.

From The Road to Independence: Virginia 1763-1783 by Virginia. History, Government, and Geography Service