falling out
30
4.4
- noun
- Informal
:
ruptura
- After years of close friendship, they experienced a falling out that left them estranged.
We had a huge falling out after we graduated, partially I'd say mostly my doing.
- We had a huge falling out after we graduated, partially I'd say mostly my doing.
- I feel like this could be the falling out of the group it.
Examples
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Chris and I had a falling out.
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We had a falling out.
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- She did mention a falling out with your father.
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Then last year, they had a falling out.
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We kind of had a falling out.
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And I had a falling out with my old business partner.
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But when Jack and I came back from Europe, we had a pretty big falling out.
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In my own family, money led to a huge falling out between family members.
Blog text (18) -
We had this big falling out over Post-Its.
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They'd had some kind of sad falling out and hadn't spoken in years.
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
107
3.4
The end of a relationship, often between romantic partners or groups
89
3.4
An ending of a relationship or cooperation after disagreement
44
6.9
An end to a connection between people or groups
34
5.4
A serious break between people or groups that causes conflict
26
5.6
Strong disagreement between people or groups
21
5.2
A break in friendly relations between people or groups causing tension
6
7.1
A serious break between people or groups that causes a lack of trust
5
4.7
A sudden end of an activity, relationship, or talk
2
6.1
A time when people or groups separate and go different ways
A sudden strong argument that ends a relationship or situation
Antonyms
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
falling + out
The phrase evokes a plausible image from its parts—'fall' (to drop/decline) plus 'out' (outward/separation)—so learners can infer a notion of something breaking apart. However, the specific sense 'a disagreement or quarrel' is a metaphorical extension rather than a direct, literal composition, so knowing the words does not reliably yield the idiomatic meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Falling out comes from the simple picture of someone falling out of a group, as if they step away and are no longer part of the circle. So it now means 'an argument' that ends or weakens a relationship.