Descent vs. Fall

Descentnoun

An instance of descending; act of coming down.

‘We climbed the mountain with difficulty, but the descent was easier.’;

Fallnoun

The act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity.

Descentnoun

A way down.

‘We had difficulty in finding the correct descent.’;

Fallnoun

A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.

Descentnoun

A sloping passage or incline.

‘The descent into the cavern was wet and slippery.’;

Fallnoun

The time of the year when the leaves typically fall from the trees; autumn; the season of the year between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.

Descentnoun

Lineage or hereditary derivation.

‘Our guide was of Welsh descent.’;

Fallnoun

A loss of greatness or status.

‘the fall of Rome’;

Descentnoun

A drop to a lower status or condition; decline. en

‘After that, the holiday went into a steep descent.’;

Fallnoun

That which falls or cascades.

Descentnoun

A falling upon or invasion.

Fallnoun

(sport) A crucial event or circumstance.

Descentnoun

(topology) A particular extension of the idea of gluing. See Descent (mathematics).

Fallnoun

The action of a batsman being out.

Descentnoun

The act of descending, or passing downward; change of place from higher to lower.

Fallnoun

(curling) A defect in the ice which causes stones thrown into an area to drift in a given direction.

Descentnoun

Incursion; sudden attack; especially, hostile invasion from sea; - often followed by upon or on; as, to make a descent upon the enemy.

‘The United Provinces . . . ordered public prayer to God, when they feared that the French and English fleets would make a descent upon their coasts.’;

Fallnoun

(wrestling) An instance of a wrestler being pinned to the mat.

Descentnoun

Derivation, as from an ancestor; procedure by generation; lineage; birth; extraction.

Fallnoun

A hairpiece for women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended primarily to cover hair loss.

Descentnoun

Progress downward, as in station, virtue, as in station, virtue, and the like, from a higher to a lower state, from a higher to a lower state, from the more to the less important, from the better to the worse, etc.

Fallnoun

Blame or punishment for a failure or misdeed.

‘He set up his rival to take the fall.’;

Descentnoun

Transmission of an estate by inheritance, usually, but not necessarily, in the descending line; title to inherit an estate by reason of consanguinity.

Fallnoun

The part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting (usu. plural).

‘Have the goodness to secure the falls of the mizzen halyards.’;

Descentnoun

Inclination downward; a descending way; inclined or sloping surface; declivity; slope; as, a steep descent.

Fallnoun

See falls

Descentnoun

That which is descended; descendants; issue.

‘If care of our descent perplex us most,Which must be born to certain woe.’;

Fallnoun

An old Scots unit of measure equal to six ells.

Descentnoun

A step or remove downward in any scale of gradation; a degree in the scale of genealogy; a generation.

‘No man living is a thousand descents removed from Adam himself.’;

Fallnoun

A short, flexible piece of leather forming part of a bullwhip, placed between the thong and the cracker.

Descentnoun

Lowest place; extreme downward place.

‘And from the extremest upward of thy head,To the descent and dust below thy foot.’;

Fallverb

To move downwards.

Descentnoun

a movement downward

Fallverb

To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.

‘Thrown from a cliff, the stone fell 100 feet before hitting the ground.’;

Descentnoun

properties attributable to your ancestry;

‘he comes from good origins’;

Fallverb

To come down, to drop or descend.

‘The rain fell at dawn.’;

Descentnoun

the act of changing your location in a downward direction

Fallverb

To come to the ground deliberately, to prostrate oneself.

‘He fell to the floor and begged for mercy.’;

Descentnoun

the kinship relation between an individual and the individual's progenitors

Fallverb

To be brought to the ground.

Descentnoun

a downward slope or bend

Fallverb

(transitive) To be moved downwards.

Descentnoun

the descendants of one individual;

‘his entire lineage has been warriors’;

Fallverb

(obsolete) To let fall; to drop.

Descentnoun

an act of moving downwards, dropping, or falling

‘the plane had gone into a steep descent’;

Fallverb

(obsolete) To sink; to depress.

‘to fall the voice’;

Descentnoun

a downward slope

‘a steep, badly eroded descent’;

Fallverb

To fell; to cut down.

‘to fall a tree’;

Descentnoun

a moral, social, or psychological decline

‘the ancient empire's slow descent into barbarism’;

Fallverb

(intransitive) To happen, to change negatively.

Descentnoun

the origin or background of a person in terms of family or nationality

‘the settlers were of Cornish descent’;

Fallverb

(copulative) To become.

‘She has fallen ill.’; ‘The children fell asleep in the back of the car.’; ‘When did you first fall in love?’;

Descentnoun

the transmission of qualities, property, or privileges by inheritance.

Fallverb

To occur (on a certain day of the week, date, or similar); said of an instance of a recurring event such as a holiday or date.

‘Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday.’; ‘Last year, Commencement fell on June 3.’;

Descentnoun

a sudden violent attack

‘a descent on the Channel ports’;

Fallverb

(intransitive) To collapse; to be overthrown or defeated.

‘Rome fell to the Goths in 410 AD.’;

Descentnoun

an unexpected visit

‘his descents on the manager of any shop he took a fancy to visit’;

Fallverb

To die, especially in battle or by disease.

‘This is a monument to all those who fell in the First World War.’;

Fallverb

(intransitive) To become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc.).

‘The candidate's poll ratings fell abruptly after the banking scandal.’;

Fallverb

(followed by a determining word or phrase) To become; to be affected by or befallen with a calamity; to change into the state described by words following; to become prostrated literally or figuratively Usage notes]] below.

‘Our senator fell into disrepute because of the banking scandal.’;

Fallverb

(transitive) To be allotted to; to arrive through chance, fate, or inheritance.

‘And so it falls to me to make this important decision.’; ‘The estate fell to his brother; the kingdom fell into the hands of his rivals.’;

Fallverb

To diminish; to lessen or lower.

Fallverb

To bring forth.

‘to fall lambs’;

Fallverb

To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; said of the young of certain animals.

Fallverb

(intransitive) To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin.

Fallverb

(intransitive) To become ensnared or entrapped; to be worse off than before.

‘to fall into error;’; ‘to fall into difficulties’;

Fallverb

(intransitive) To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; said of the face.

Fallverb

(intransitive) To happen; to come to pass; to chance or light (upon).

Fallverb

(intransitive) To begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence; to rush or hurry.

‘After arguing, they fell to blows.’;

Fallverb

(intransitive) To be dropped or uttered carelessly.

‘An unguarded expression fell from his lips.’;

Fallverb

To Descend, either suddenly or gradually; particularly, to descend by the force of gravity; to drop; to sink; as, the apple falls; the tide falls; the mercury falls in the barometer.

‘I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.’;

Fallverb

To cease to be erect; to take suddenly a recumbent posture; to become prostrate; to drop; as, a child totters and falls; a tree falls; a worshiper falls on his knees.

‘I fell at his feet to worship him.’;

Fallverb

To find a final outlet; to discharge its waters; to empty; - with into; as, the river Rhone falls into the Mediterranean.

Fallverb

To become prostrate and dead; to die; especially, to die by violence, as in battle.

‘A thousand shall fall at thy side.’; ‘He rushed into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell.’;

Fallverb

To cease to be active or strong; to die away; to lose strength; to subside; to become less intense; as, the wind falls.

Fallverb

To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; - said of the young of certain animals.

Fallverb

To decline in power, glory, wealth, or importance; to become insignificant; to lose rank or position; to decline in weight, value, price etc.; to become less; as, the price falls; stocks fell two points.

‘I am a poor fallen man, unworthy nowTo be thy lord and master.’; ‘The greatness of these Irish lords suddenly fell and vanished.’;

Fallverb

To be overthrown or captured; to be destroyed.

‘Heaven and earth will witness,If Rome must fall, that we are innocent.’;

Fallverb

To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin; to depart from the faith; to apostatize; to sin.

‘Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.’;

Fallverb

To become insnared or embarrassed; to be entrapped; to be worse off than before; as, to fall into error; to fall into difficulties.

Fallverb

To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; - said of the countenance.

‘Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.’; ‘I have observed of late thy looks are fallen.’;

Fallverb

To sink; to languish; to become feeble or faint; as, our spirits rise and fall with our fortunes.

Fallverb

To pass somewhat suddenly, and passively, into a new state of body or mind; to become; as, to fall asleep; to fall into a passion; to fall in love; to fall into temptation.

Fallverb

To happen; to to come to pass; to light; to befall; to issue; to terminate.

‘The Romans fell on this model by chance.’; ‘Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.’; ‘They do not make laws, they fall into customs.’;

Fallverb

To come; to occur; to arrive.

‘The vernal equinox, which at the Nicene Council fell on the 21st of March, falls now [1694] about ten days sooner.’;

Fallverb

To begin with haste, ardor, or vehemence; to rush or hurry; as, they fell to blows.

‘They now no longer doubted, but fell to work heart and soul.’;

Fallverb

To pass or be transferred by chance, lot, distribution, inheritance, or otherwise; as, the estate fell to his brother; the kingdom fell into the hands of his rivals.

Fallverb

To belong or appertain.

‘If to her share some female errors fall,Look on her face, and you'll forget them all.’;

Fallverb

To be dropped or uttered carelessly; as, an unguarded expression fell from his lips; not a murmur fell from him.

‘Those captive tribes . . . fell offFrom God to worship calves.’; ‘A soul exasperated in ills falls outWith everything, its friend, itself.’;

Fallverb

To let fall; to drop.

‘For every tear he falls, a Trojan bleeds.’;

Fallverb

To sink; to depress; as, to fall the voice.

Fallverb

To diminish; to lessen or lower.

‘Upon lessening interest to four per cent, you fall the price of your native commodities.’;

Fallverb

To bring forth; as, to fall lambs.

Fallverb

To fell; to cut down; as, to fall a tree.

Fallnoun

The act of falling; a dropping or descending be the force of gravity; descent; as, a fall from a horse, or from the yard of ship.

Fallnoun

The act of dropping or tumbling from an erect posture; as, he was walking on ice, and had a fall.

Fallnoun

Death; destruction; overthrow; ruin.

‘They thy fall conspire.’; ‘Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.’;

Fallnoun

Downfall; degradation; loss of greatness or office; termination of greatness, power, or dominion; ruin; overthrow; as, the fall of the Roman empire.

‘Beholds thee glorious only in thy fall.’;

Fallnoun

The surrender of a besieged fortress or town ; as, the fall of Sebastopol.

Fallnoun

Diminution or decrease in price or value; depreciation; as, the fall of prices; the fall of rents.

Fallnoun

A sinking of tone; cadence; as, the fall of the voice at the close of a sentence.

Fallnoun

Declivity; the descent of land or a hill; a slope.

Fallnoun

Descent of water; a cascade; a cataract; a rush of water down a precipice or steep; - usually in the plural, sometimes in the singular; as, the falls of Niagara.

Fallnoun

The discharge of a river or current of water into the ocean, or into a lake or pond; as, the fall of the Po into the Gulf of Venice.

Fallnoun

Extent of descent; the distance which anything falls; as, the water of a stream has a fall of five feet.

Fallnoun

The season when leaves fall from trees; autumn.

‘What crowds of patients the town doctor kills,Or how, last fall, he raised the weekly bills.’;

Fallnoun

That which falls; a falling; as, a fall of rain; a heavy fall of snow.

Fallnoun

The act of felling or cutting down.

Fallnoun

Lapse or declension from innocence or goodness. Specifically: The first apostasy; the act of our first parents in eating the forbidden fruit; also, the apostasy of the rebellious angels.

Fallnoun

Formerly, a kind of ruff or band for the neck; a falling band; a faule.

Fallnoun

That part (as one of the ropes) of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting.

Fallnoun

the season when the leaves fall from the trees;

‘in the fall of 1973’;

Fallnoun

a sudden drop from an upright position;

‘he had a nasty spill on the ice’;

Fallnoun

the lapse of mankind into sinfulness because of the sin of Adam and Eve;

‘women have been blamed ever since the Fall’;

Fallnoun

a downward slope or bend

Fallnoun

a lapse into sin; a loss of innocence or of chastity;

‘a fall from virtue’;

Fallnoun

a sudden decline in strength or number or importance;

‘the fall of the House of Hapsburg’;

Fallnoun

a movement downward;

‘the rise and fall of the tides’;

Fallnoun

the act of surrendering (under agreed conditions);

‘they were protected until the capitulation of the fort’;

Fallnoun

the time of day immediately following sunset;

‘he loved the twilight’; ‘they finished before the fall of night’;

Fallnoun

when a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat

Fallnoun

a free and rapid descent by the force of gravity;

‘it was a miracle that he survived the drop from that height’;

Fallnoun

a sudden sharp decrease in some quantity;

‘a drop of 57 points on the Dow Jones index’; ‘there was a drop in pressure in the pulmonary artery’; ‘a dip in prices’; ‘when that became known the price of their stock went into free fall’;

Fallverb

descend in free fall under the influence of gravity;

‘The branch fell from the tree’; ‘The unfortunate hiker fell into a crevasse’;

Fallverb

move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way;

‘The temperature is going down’; ‘The barometer is falling’; ‘The curtain fell on the diva’; ‘Her hand went up and then fell again’;

Fallverb

pass suddenly and passively into a state of body or mind;

‘fall into a trap’; ‘She fell ill’; ‘They fell out of favor’; ‘Fall in love’; ‘fall asleep’; ‘fall prey to an imposter’; ‘fall into a strange way of thinking’; ‘she fell to pieces after she lost her work’;

Fallverb

come under, be classified or included;

‘fall into a category’; ‘This comes under a new heading’;

Fallverb

fall from clouds;

‘rain, snow and sleet were falling’; ‘Vesuvius precipitated its fiery, destructive rage on Herculaneum’;

Fallverb

suffer defeat, failure, or ruin;

‘We must stand or fall’; ‘fall by the wayside’;

Fallverb

decrease in size, extent, or range;

‘The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester’; ‘The cabin pressure fell dramatically’; ‘her weight fall to under a hundred pounds’; ‘his voice fell to a whisper’;

Fallverb

die, as in battle or in a hunt;

‘Many soldiers fell at Verdun’; ‘Several deer have fallen to the same gun’; ‘The shooting victim fell dead’;

Fallverb

touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly;

‘Light fell on her face’; ‘The sun shone on the fields’; ‘The light struck the golden necklace’; ‘A strange sound struck my ears’;

Fallverb

be captured;

‘The cities fell to the enemy’;

Fallverb

occur at a specified time or place;

‘Christmas falls on a Monday this year’; ‘The accent falls on the first syllable’;

Fallverb

yield to temptation or sin;

‘Adam and Eve fell’;

Fallverb

lose office or power;

‘The government fell overnight’; ‘The Qing Dynasty fell with Sun Yat-sen’;

Fallverb

to be given by assignment or distribution;

‘The most difficult task fell on the youngest member of the team’; ‘The onus fell on us’; ‘The pressure to succeed fell on the yougest student’;

Fallverb

move in a specified direction;

‘The line of men fall forward’;

Fallverb

be due;

‘payments fall on the 1st of the month’;

Fallverb

lose one's chastity;

‘a fallen woman’;

Fallverb

to be given by right or inheritance;

‘The estate fell to the oldest daughter’;

Fallverb

come into the possession of;

‘The house accrued to the oldest son’;

Fallverb

fall to somebody by assignment or lot;

‘The task fell to me’; ‘It fell to me to notify the parents of the victims’;

Fallverb

be inherited by;

‘The estate fell to my sister’; ‘The land returned to the family’; ‘The estate devolved to an heir that everybody had assumed to be dead’;

Fallverb

slope downward;

‘The hills around here fall towards the ocean’;

Fallverb

lose an upright position suddenly;

‘The vase fell over and the water spilled onto the table’; ‘Her hair fell across her forehead’;

Fallverb

drop oneself to a lower or less erect position;

‘She fell back in her chair’; ‘He fell to his knees’;

Fallverb

fall or flow in a certain way;

‘This dress hangs well’; ‘Her long black hair flowed down her back’;

Fallverb

assume a disappointed or sad expression;

‘Her face fell when she heard that she would be laid off’; ‘his crest fell’;

Fallverb

be cast down;

‘his eyes fell’;

Fallverb

come out; issue;

‘silly phrases fell from her mouth’;

Fallverb

be born, used chiefly of lambs;

‘The lambs fell in the afternoon’;

Fallverb

begin vigorously;

‘The prisoners fell to work right away’;

Fallverb

go as if by falling;

‘Grief fell from our hearts’;

Fallverb

come as if by falling;

‘Night fell’; ‘Silence fell’;

Fallverb

move from a higher to a lower level, typically rapidly and without control

‘my purse fell out of my bag’; ‘bombs could be seen falling from the planes’;

Fallverb

become detached and drop to the ground

‘my sunglasses fell off and broke on the pavement’;

Fallverb

hang down

‘hair that was allowed to fall to the shoulders’;

Fallverb

(of land) slope downwards

‘the land fell away in a steep bank’;

Fallverb

(of a river) flow or discharge itself into

‘this is the stream that falls into Gaping Gill on the moor above’;

Fallverb

(of someone's eyes or glance) be directed downwards

‘Albert's eyes fell, and he blushed’;

Fallverb

(of someone's face) show dismay or disappointment by appearing to droop

‘her face fell as she thought about her life with George’;

Fallverb

(of a person) lose one's balance and collapse

‘I felt so dizzy that I fell over’; ‘he stumbled, tripped, and fell’; ‘she fell down at school today’;

Fallverb

throw oneself to the ground

‘she fell to her knees and began to weep’;

Fallverb

(of a tree or structure) collapse to the ground

‘after the earthquake, part of the city fell down’;

Fallverb

(of computer hardware or software) stop working suddenly; crash

‘the program fell over once when I clicked on the wrong control’;

Fallverb

decrease in number, amount, intensity, or quality

‘we're worried that standards are falling’; ‘imports fell by 12 per cent’;

Fallverb

(of a measuring instrument) show a lower reading

‘the barometer had fallen a further ten points’;

Fallverb

(in sport) play less well

‘when he faded the whole team fell away’;

Fallverb

be captured or defeated

‘their mountain strongholds fell to enemy attack’;

Fallverb

(of a wicket) be taken by the bowling side

‘more wickets fell’;

Fallverb

die in battle

‘an English leader who had fallen at the hands of the Danes’;

Fallverb

(of a government or leader) lose office or be overthrown.

Fallverb

yield to temptation

‘it is their husbands' fault if wives do fall’;

Fallverb

pass into a specified state, situation, or position

‘she fell pregnant’; ‘many of the buildings fell into disrepair’;

Fallverb

occur or take place

‘her birthday fell on May Day’; ‘when night fell we crawled back to our lines’;

Fallverb

begin to do something

‘he fell to musing about how it had happened’;

Fallverb

be drawn accidentally into

‘you must not fall into this common error’;

Fallverb

be classified in the way specified

‘canals fall within the Minister's brief’;

Fallnoun

an act of falling or collapsing

‘his mother had a fall as she alighted from a train’;

Fallnoun

a controlled act of falling, especially as a stunt or in martial arts

‘rolling properly into a fall minimizes hurt’;

Fallnoun

a move which pins the opponent's shoulders on the ground for a count of three.

Fallnoun

a downward difference in height between parts of a surface

‘at the corner of the massif this fall is interrupted by other heights of considerable stature’;

Fallnoun

a thing which falls or has fallen

‘in October came the first fall of snow’; ‘a rock fall’;

Fallnoun

a sudden onset or arrival

‘the fall of darkness’;

Fallnoun

a waterfall or cascade

‘Niagara Falls’; ‘we camped upriver from the falls’;

Fallnoun

a downward turn in a melody

‘that strain again, it had a dying fall’;

Fallnoun

the way in which something falls or hangs

‘the fall of her hair’;

Fallnoun

the parts or petals of a flower which bend downwards, especially the outer perianth segments of an iris.

Fallnoun

a decrease in size, number, rate, or level

‘a big fall in unemployment’;

Fallnoun

a defeat or downfall

‘the fall of the government’;

Fallnoun

a person's moral decline.

Fallnoun

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.

Fallnoun

autumn

‘that fall Roosevelt was elected to his first term’;

Fallnoun

a flock of woodcock

‘there is a fall of woodcock in the round wood above the dell’;