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🏃‍♂️ To retreat 🛟 To rely as backup 🔄 To return to old ways 🪑 To move backward suddenly 🐢 To lag behind
to fall back

to fall back

13 3.6
To move quickly backwards and lose balance so you land on something
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : caer hacia atrás
  • It's a vast explosion, and Lex falls back, dripping wet from head to toe.
  • fall back down

And then towards the end I slip and fall back on my head so hard.

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Examples

  • With a sudden effort, he pulled the leg straight, then fell back, gasping harshly.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • And I started to fall back and I fell back and Mick caught me.

    The Stones and Brian Jones (2024)

  • And then towards the end I slip and fall back on my head so hard.

    Kevin Jubbal, M.D.

  • He said one guy hit it, hit it one time, fell back on the floor, boom passed out.

  • I fell back onto the bench... and suddenly I could understand the woodpeckers.

    Nobel Son (2007)

  • I don't want to live any longer!" Exhausted by the effort, Pop fell back onto his pillows.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • When he's finished, Chase looks up to see that Larry's fallen back onto the bed, asleep again.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The crowd gasped and fell back before the snakes' collective gaze.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • As he stumbled on the uneven ground, he lost his balance and began to fall back onto the grass.

  • When she saw the wave approaching, she lost her footing and had to fall back to avoid getting knocked over.

Synonyms

to fall
vsto fall back
∞ 1.0

Move or drop down from a higher to a lower place

moves backward suddenly with loss of balance leading to coming down
to fall down
vsto fall back
250 1.0

Suddenly move from a standing position to the ground or a lower level

moves backward suddenly, losing balance and coming down toward the ground
to topple
vsto fall back
93 4.1

To fall over or make something fall over, often suddenly when it loses balance

moves backward suddenly by stepping or jerking and then coming down
to fall over
vsto fall back
67 1.0

To lose your balance or stop being steady and end up on the ground

moves backward suddenly, often losing balance and coming down
tumble
vsto fall back
46 2.9

A rolling fall or gymnastic turn of the body

moves backward suddenly without turning, directly losing balance and coming down
to keel over
vsto fall back
  • Informal
16 5.7

Fall down suddenly because you faint or feel very weak

moves backward suddenly rather than collapsing from internal causes
to fall on one's arse
vsto fall back
  • Vulgar
1 9.1

To lose your balance and land on your backside in an awkward or embarrassing way

moves backward suddenly, usually without landing specifically on the backside

Antonyms

to stand up
559 1.0

To get up from sitting or lying and be on your feet

to move ahead
61 2.7

To start or continue something so it gets closer to a goal

How Hard

to collapse
579 3.9
to topple
93 4.1
to fall off
85 1.4
to fall back
13 3.6
to stagger
49 4.0
to reel
16 4.6

Surface Forms

fall back infinitive
fell back past
fallen back past participle
falling back present participle
falls back third person singular

Morphology

fall + back

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 comes from the simple physical act of falling backwards: if you lose balance your body can fall back onto the ground or a sofa. So it means 'to move backwards suddenly and lose balance'.