to fall off
85
1.4
- phrasal verb
- /fɔl ɔf/
:
caerse (de)
- I tipped and nearly fell off the edge of the bed.
He once fell off and exploded his shoulder.
- He once fell off and exploded his shoulder.
- No one was there and he he fell off the balcony.
- Third phase, I fell off the top of the slide for life.
- Once I rolled off the bed and fell off the bed.
- How about, Hey, you fucking cock sucker, you're gonna fall off the thing.
- I will die if I fall off. My forearms are melting
- I'm so scared to fall off stuff like heights.
Examples
-
When I was 9, I fell off this jungle gym.
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-So you fell off your bed.
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When that signal went off, I nearly fell off my chair.
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Well, you might fall off the roof.
-
You know that your cat can fall off those shelves, right?
-
You fell off the stage and broke your hip... when was it?
-
I saw this and I just about fell off my bunk bed this morning.
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I shudder at the thought of Kenny falling off the wall and into the garden.
Fiction book (1993) -
Gina fired him because he fell off a ladder in the storeroom and broke his right arm.
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Be careful when you climb that tree; you don't want to fall off and get hurt.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Move or drop down from a higher to a lower place
250
1.0
Suddenly move from a standing position to the ground or a lower level
108
3.5
To fall forward or tip onto the ground
93
4.1
To fall over or make something fall over, often suddenly when it loses balance
93
5.8
Fall suddenly and steeply from a high place or in amount
83
3.8
To fall or drop suddenly from a higher to a lower place
67
1.0
To lose your balance or stop being steady and end up on the ground
34
1.8
To fall from a higher place to a lower place
27
3.0
Make something fall from a standing position
10
6.5
To drop to the ground quickly to avoid danger
7
5.4
To fall suddenly, for example by tripping or by losing value
3
2.9
To fall from where it is fixed or held
1
9.1
To lose your balance and land on your backside in an awkward or embarrassing way
A thing that falls down freely because of gravity
To fall or sit down suddenly and hit your bottom
To drop suddenly onto the floor and lie face down or stretched out
Antonyms
How Hard
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to lose one's balance and drop down from something' is directly derivable from combining 'fall' (to drop from higher to lower) with 'off' (away from a surface). This motion verb + particle composition follows standard, cross-linguistically common patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
Fall off comes from the picture of a person or thing standing on something and then falling and coming off, like falling off a ladder. So it means 'to lose one's balance and drop down from something'.