| Library / English Dictionary |
FALL IN
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Break down, literally or metaphorically
Example:
The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice
Synonyms:
break; cave in; collapse; fall in; founder; give; give way
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "fall in" is one way to...):
change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)
Verb group:
abandon; give up (stop maintaining or insisting on; of ideas or claims)
burst; collapse (cause to burst)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall in"):
go off; implode (burst inward)
buckle; crumple (fold or collapse)
flop (fall loosely)
break (curl over and fall apart in surf or foam, of waves)
sink; slide down; slump (fall or sink heavily)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Sense 2
Meaning:
To take one's place in a military formation or line
Example:
Troops fall in!
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Sense 3
Meaning:
Become part of; become a member of a group or organization
Example:
He joined the Communist Party as a young man
Synonyms:
fall in; get together; join
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fall in"):
sign up (join a club, an activity, etc. with the intention to join or participate)
band oneself; league together (attach oneself to a group)
organise; organize; unionise; unionize (form or join a union)
affiliate (join in an affiliation)
rejoin (join again)
infiltrate; penetrate (enter a group or organization in order to spy on the members)
unify; unite (act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s PP
Context examples:
She very often reads Sir Charles Grandison herself; but new books do not fall in our way.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Clonidine acts centrally by reducing sympathetic tone, resulting in a fall in diastolic and systolic blood pressure and a reduction in heart rate.
(Clonidine, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
The skin on the skull and forehead should fall in dense folds.
(Bulldog, NCI Thesaurus)
In their paper, the EDGES team reported seeing a clear signal in the radio wave data, detecting a fall in CMB intensity when that process began.
(Astronomers detect ancient signal from first stars in universe, National Science Foundation)
He was afraid, because of his great weakness, that he might fall in and drown.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
To fall in with each other on such an errand as this, thought Emma; to meet in a charitable scheme; this will bring a great increase of love on each side.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
For years, astronomers have wondered if the large number of binary and triple systems of stars in our galaxy are created close to one another, or if they fall in together after they've formed.
(Our Sun Could Have Been Born With an Evil Twin Called "Nemesis", The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Every cell in the human body has its own molecular clock, which is capable of generating a daily rise and fall in the number of many proteins the body produces over a 24-hour cycle.
(Plants can tell time even without a brain, University of Cambridge)
Increased lipolysis and a fall in plasma triglycerides, in turn, leads to the modification of the small, dense low density lipoporotein (LDL) particles into larger particles that are catabolized more rapidly due to a greater affinity for cholesterol receptors.
(Fenofibrate, NCI Thesaurus)
It was no easy or light thing to journey through this great forest, which was some twenty miles from east to west and a good sixteen from Bramshaw Woods in the north to Lymington in the south. Alleyne, however, had the good fortune to fall in with a woodman, axe upon shoulder, trudging along in the very direction that he wished to go.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
