fall off
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To become smaller, fewer, or less; to decrease in size, amount, or intensity. This meaning describes a gradual or noticeable decline.
- To drop or come away from something to which it was attached. This meaning describes a physical separation.
- To decline in quality, condition, or performance. This meaning describes a deterioration.
Usage and Examples
- Verb (Decrease):
- Sales tend to fall off during the winter months.
- Interest in the project fell off after the initial excitement.
- Verb (Become detached):
- The handle fell off the old suitcase.
- A button fell off my coat.
- Verb (Decline in condition):
- The quality of his work has fallen off recently.
- The team's performance fell off in the second half of the season.
Advanced Usage
- "fall off a cliff": To decrease very suddenly and severely.
- Stock prices fell off a cliff after the company's poor earnings report.
- "fall off the back of a lorry" (UK idiom, informal): Used humorously or euphemistically to suggest something was stolen.
- He claimed the cheap TV fell off the back of a lorry.
Variants and Related Words
- Falloff (noun): A reduction or decline.
- There has been a noticeable falloff in attendance.
- Falling-off (noun): An instance of declining or deteriorating.
- We are concerned about the falling-off in standards.
Synonyms
- Decrease: To become less in size, amount, or intensity.
- Drop: To fall or let something fall.
- Decline: To become smaller, fewer, or weaker; to deteriorate.
- Detach: To separate something from something else.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Fall away: Similar to 'fall off' in meaning 'to become smaller or weaker'.
- Support for the policy began to fall away.
- Fall apart: To break into pieces, or to fail completely.
- The old book fell apart in my hands.
- Fall behind: To fail to keep up with a schedule or standard.
- He fell behind on his mortgage payments.
Related Idioms
- Fall off the wagon (informal): To start drinking alcohol again after a period of abstinence.
- After six months sober, he fell off the wagon.
- The apple doesn't fall far from the tree: A child's character or behavior is similar to that of their parents.
- He's as stubborn as his father—the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Verb
- diminish in size or intensity
- fall heavily or suddenly; decline markedly
- The real estate market fell off
- come off
- This button had fallen off