Definition

1. 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

1. diminish in size or intensity
2. fall heavily or suddenly; decline markedly
   • The real estate market fell off
3. come off
   • This button had fallen off