to fall back
46
4.3
- phrasal verb
- /fɔl bæk/
:
recurrir a
- Uh, we can always fall back on the classic, "When God shuts a door, he opens a window."
- fall back on traditional
After that, they'll fall back on insurance companies.
- After that, they'll fall back on insurance companies.
- This is a product that I fall back on a lot.
- Some states have also said they'll fall back on electrocution if need be.
- I had the Vortec watch startup to fall back on.
- Lots of relationship therapists fall back on this.
- Like that kind of feels like a good thing to kind of fall back on.
- My mother said, OK, Dee Dee be an actress, but just have something to fall back on, please.
- Like, I don't know that he has a network of intimacies that he can fall back on.
- And if there was some early good love bombing, then there are those memories to fall back on.
- But what, what I'll always fall back on was, was I wrong?
- How much having gone through that, were you able to fall back on and says OK, OK, and boom, here we go.
Examples
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If vampire hunting doesn't pan out, I need a career to fall back on.
-
Journalists are therefore likely to fall back on the conventional wisdom until this new knowledge is internalized.
Academic text (1990) -
This is a product that I fall back on a lot.
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Or excuse me, like just something to fall back on and then start your business on the side.
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You study something you can fall back on.
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I wanted to get my degree, so I had something to fall back on.
Academic text (2006) -
I never had the luxury of having a husband to fall back on.
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Plan "A" busts, you switch to plan "B," with "C" and "D" to fall back on.
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In tough times, it's helpful to have a plan B to fall back on.
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After losing the game, he realized that he needed to fall back on his experience for the next one.
Synonyms
602
1.0
Trust a person or thing to do what you expect
154
4.8
To turn to and use something often unwanted to solve a problem
3
7.5
Use the least good options because nothing better is left
How Reliant
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to move backwards suddenly, often losing balance' is directly derivable from combining 'fall' (to descend or drop) with 'back' (toward the rear). This motion + directional composition is a regular, literal pattern in English (and common cross-linguistically), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Fall back may come from the idea of falling onto something that gives support: picture someone who has no other choice and falls back onto a chair or safety net. That's why it means 'to rely on something as a last resort'.