- move downwards, typically rapidly and freely without control, from a higher to a lower level（尤指迅速、自由地）落下; 掉落; 跌落：
bombs could be seen falling from the planes
人们可以看到炸弹从飞机上落下的情况
as adj. falling the power lines had been brought down by falling trees.倒下的树压倒了电线。
fall off
become detached accidentally and drop to the ground掉下; 跌落：my sunglasses fell off and broke on the pavement.
我的太阳镜掉到人行道上摔坏了。
- hang down垂下：
hair that was allowed to fall to the shoulders.
任其垂在肩上的头发。
- (of land) slope downwards; drop away（地面）向下倾斜; 变得陡峭：
the land fell away in a steep bank.
地面突然下倾形成了一个陡坡。
fall into
(of a river) flow or discharge itself into（河流）流入, 注入。
- no obj.(of someone's eyes or glance) be directed downwards（目光, 视线）向下看, 低垂。
- no obj.(of someone's face) show dismay or disappointment by appearing to sag or droop（某人的脸色）变得阴沉：
her face fell as she thought about her life with George.
想到她和乔治的生活, 她的脸沉了下来。
- figurative occur, arrive, or become apparent as if by dropping suddenly〈喻〉蓦然发生; 骤然降临; 突然显现：
when night fell we managed to crawl back to our lines
夜幕降临时, 我们设法潜回了我方阵地
the information might fall into the wrong hands.
情报有可能落入了不该知道的人的手中。
- (of a person) lose one's balance and collapse（人）跌倒, 摔倒：
she fell down at school today.
她今天在学校摔了一跤。
- throw oneself to the ground摔倒在地; 跪倒在地：
she fell to her knees and began to weep.
她跪倒在地, 痛哭起来。
- throw oneself down, typically in order to worship or implore someone（尤指为崇拜或恳求某人而）下跪：
they fell on their knees, rendering thanks to God.
他们双膝跪下, 向上帝表示感激之情。
- (of a tree, building, or other structure) collapse to the ground（树、建筑物或其他结构）坍塌; 倒下：
the house looked as if it were going to fall down at any moment.
那幢房子看上去随时有可能倒塌。
- decrease in number, amount, intensity, or quality减少; 下降; 减弱：
in 1987 imports into Britain fell by 12 per cent
1987年英国进口降低了12%
we're worried that standards are falling.
我们担心标准在降低。
- find a lower level; subside or abate降低; 退落; 减轻：
the water table in the Rift Valley fell.
东非大裂谷的地下水位下降了。
- (of a measuring instrument) show a lower reading（测量仪）读数下降：
the barometer had fallen a further ten points.
气压表读数又下降了十点。
fall away
(in sport) play less well; lose form（体育用语）表现失常; 发挥欠佳; 技术走样。
- (of a building or place) be captured or defeated（建筑物, 地方）沦陷; 被攻陷（或占领）：
their mountain strongholds fell to enemy attack.
他们的山区要塞被敌人攻克。
- Cricket (of a wicket) be taken by the bowling side【板球】（三柱门被击中而击球员）被迫出局。
- die in battle战死, 阵亡：
an English leader who had fallen at the hands of the Danes.
战死在丹麦人手中的英国将领。
- no obj.(of a government or leader) lose office（政府, 领导人）垮台, 失势, 丢掉公职。
- no obj. archaic commit sin; yield to temptation〈古〉犯罪; 经不住诱惑：
it is their husbands' fault if wives do fall.
如果妻子真的堕落, 那是她们的丈夫的错。
fall over
informal (of computer hardware or software) stop working suddenly; crash〈非正式〉（电脑硬件, 软件）突然停止工作, 崩溃。
- pass into a specified state进入某种状态; 变成; 成为：
many of the buildings fell into disrepair
建筑物中有许多已年久失修
with complement she fell pregnant.她怀孕了。
- occur at a specified time（在某一特定时间）发生：
Mother's birthday fell on May Day.
妈妈的生日正巧是五一节。
fall to doing something
begin to do something开始做某事：he fell to musing about how it had happened.
他开始思考这事是怎么发生的。
- be drawn accidentally into陷入; 陷于：
you must not fall into this common error.
你千万不要犯这种常见错误。
- be classified or ordered in the way specified（按某一特定方式）被归类; 被排列：
canals fall within the Minister's brief.
运河的情况该由大臣来作介绍。
- usu. in sing. an act of falling or collapsing; a sudden uncontrollable descent落下; 掉落; 跌落; 坍塌; 倒下; 跌倒：
his mother had a fall, hurting her leg as she alighted from a train.
他妈妈下火车时跌了一跤, 摔伤了腿。
- a controlled act of falling, especially as a stunt or in martial arts（尤指特技或武术中的）跟斗; 飞身下跳。
- Wrestling a move which pins the opponent's shoulders on the ground for a count of three【摔跤】压倒, 按倒（指将对手肩膀按在地上以等裁判从一数到三）。
- a downward difference in height between parts of a surface落差：
at the corner of the massif this fall is interrupted by other heights of considerable stature.
在地块的转角处, 这一落差为其他高度可观的高地所遮断。
- a thing which falls or has fallen降落物：
in October came the first thin fall of snow
10月份下了第一场小雪
a rock fall.
落石。
- a sudden onset or arrival as if by dropping降临, 来临：
the fall of darkness.
暮色的降临。
- （一般作 falls）a waterfall or cascade瀑布。
- chiefly poetic/literary a downward turn in a melody〈主诗/文〉降调：
that strain again, it had a dying fall.
又是那种旋律, 它用的是一种行将消失的降调。
- a state of hanging or drooping downwards下垂：
the fall of her hair.
她垂着的头发。
falls
the parts or petals of a flower which bend downwards, especially the outer perianth segments of an iris下垂花瓣（尤指鸢尾的外花被）。
- a decrease in size, number, rate, or level; a decline下降; 减弱; 减少; 减退：
a big fall in unemployment.
失业率的大幅度下降。
- a defeat or downfall失败; 垮台：
the fall of the government.
政府的垮台。
- the loss of a city or fortified place during battle（战争中城市或要塞的）失守, 沦陷：
the fall of Jerusalem.
耶路撒冷的沦陷。
- a person's moral decline, typically by succumbing to temptation道德沦丧, 堕落; （尤指受诱惑所致）。
- （the Fall 或the Fall of Man）the lapse of humankind into a state of sin, ascribed in traditional Jewish and Christian theology to the disobedience of Adam and Eve as described in Genesis人类的堕落（传统犹太教和基督教神学将此归咎于亚当和夏娃的叛逆, 《创世纪》中有此描述）。
- （亦作 Fall）N. Amer. autumn〈北美〉秋天。
be riding（或heading）for a fall
- informal be acting in a reckless way that is likely to end in trouble or disaster〈非正式〉以莽撞行动招致麻烦（或祸患）; 自找苦吃。
fall between two stools
- 见STOOL.
fall foul（或〈主北美〉afoul）of
- come into conflict with and be undermined by与…发生冲突; 遭…破坏：
any commitment of resources is likely to fall foul of government cash limitations.
任何财力的投入都可能与政府的现金管制发生矛盾。
fall in（或 into）line
- conform with others or with accepted behaviour取得一致; 符合。
- ORIGIN: with reference to military formation.
fall in（或 out of）love (with someone)
- 见LOVE.
fall into place
- (of a series of events or facts) begin to make sense or cohere（一系列事件或事实）变得清楚, 变得有条理：
once he knew what to look for, the theory fell quickly into place.
一旦他明白要找的东西, 这理论很快就变得清楚起来。
fall on stony ground
- 见STONY.
fall over oneself to do something
- informal be excessively eager to do something〈非正式〉渴望做某事：
critics and audiences fell over themselves to compliment him.
评论家和观众趋之若鹜地恭维他。
fall prey to
- 见PREY.
fall short (of)
- (of a missile) fail to reach its target（导弹）未击中目标; 未击中。
- figurative be deficient or inadequate; fail to reach a required goal〈喻〉缺乏, 不足; 未达到既定目标; 未达到：
the total vote fell short of the required two-thirds majority.
得票总数没达到要求的多数。
fall to pieces
- 见下面 fall apart.
fall victim to
- 见VICTIM.
take the fall
- N. Amer. informal receive blame or punishment, typically in the place of another person〈北美, 非正式〉（代人）受过; 当（某人的）替罪羊。
fall about
- Brit. informal laugh uncontrollably〈英, 非正式〉笑得不能自制。
fall apart（或 to pieces）
- break up, come apart, or disintegrate破碎; 破裂; 解体; 崩溃：
their marriage is likely to fall apart.
他们的婚姻有可能破裂。
- (of a person) lose one's capacity to cope（人）丧失应对能力, 垮掉：
Angie fell to pieces because she had lost everything.
安吉全垮了, 因为她失去了一切。
fall back
- move or turn back; retreat后退; 退却。
fall back on
- have recourse to when in difficulty（困难时）求助于, 转而依靠：
they normally fell back on one of three arguments.
他们通常求助于三个论据之一。
fall behind
- fail to keep level with one's competitors落后（于竞争者）。
- fail to meet a commitment to make a regular payment拖欠定期还款：
borrowers falling behind with their mortgage repayments.
拖欠抵押贷款还款的借款人。
fall down
- be shown to be inadequate or false; fail有不足, 有欠缺; 失败：
the deal fell down partly because there were a lot of unanswered questions.
交易失败了, 部分原因是有许多没有回答的问题。
fall for
- be captivated by; fall in love with被…迷住; 爱上。
- be deceived by (something)受（某事）的欺骗, 上…的当：
he should have known better than to expect Duncan to fall for a cheap trick like that.
他理应知道不该以为邓肯会上那种低劣伎俩的当。
fall in
- take one's place in a military formation（在军事队列中）站队; 集合：
the soldiers fell in by the side of the road.
士兵们在路边站队集合。
- (of a structure) collapse inwards（建筑物）向里坍塌。
fall in with
- meet by chance and become involved with偶然遇到; 结识：
he fell in with thieves.
他结识了几个小偷。
- act in accordance with (someone's ideas or suggestions); agree to按（某人的意见或建议）行事; 同意：
falling in with other people's views.
同意其他人的意见。
fall on （或 upon）
- attack fiercely or unexpectedly猛攻; 袭击：
the army fell on the besiegers.
部队对围攻者发动了猛烈攻击。
- seize enthusiastically急切地抓住：
she fell on the sandwiches as though she had not eaten in weeks.
她迫不及待地抓起三明治, 就吃, 好像几个星期没有吃过东西一样。
- (of someone's eyes or gaze) be directed towards（视线, 目光）投向：
her gaze fell on the mud-stained coverlet.
她的目光落在了沾满泥浆的床罩上。
- (of a burden or duty) be borne or incurred by（负担, 责任）由…承担（或引起）：
the cost of tuition should not fall on the student.
学费不应由学生来承担。
fall out
- (of the hair, teeth, etc.) become detached and drop out（头发、牙齿等）脱落。
- have an argument争吵; 失合：
he had fallen out with his family.
他与家人闹翻了。
- leave one's place in a military formation, or on parade掉队：
the two policemen at the rear fell out of the formation.
走在后面的两个警察掉队了。
- happen; turn out发生; 结果：
matters fell out as Stephen arranged.
事情像史蒂芬安排的那样发生了。
fall through
- come to nothing; fail一无所成; 失败：
the project fell through due to lack of money.
由于缺少资金, 项目失败了。
fall to
- (of a task) become the duty or responsibility of（任务）由…负责; 落到…的肩上：
it fell to me to write to Shephard.
由我负责写信给谢泼德。
- (of property) revert to the ownership of（财产）归还给。