Lexic.us

Definition of Fall back

1. Verb. Fall backwards and down.

2. Verb. Hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc..

3. Verb. Move back and away from. "The enemy fell back"

4. Verb. Retreat.

5. Verb. Have recourse to. "The government resorted to rationing meat"

6. Verb. Go back to bad behavior. "Those who recidivate are often minor criminals"

Definition of Fall back

1. Verb. To retreat. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Fall Back

fall-offs fall-out fall-out shelter fall-run fish fall-through fall-throughs fall about fall about the place fall all over fall apart

fall armyworm fall asleep fall at the final hurdle fall at the last hurdle fall away fall back (current term) fall back on fall back upon fall behind fall between two stools

fall board fall by the wayside fall cankerworm fall dandelion fall down fall equinox fall flat fall for

Literary usage of Fall back

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events by Frank Moore, Edward Everett (1867)
"This division, too, after a desperate and gallant struggle had to fall back. Discovering, on my arrival on the ground, that my command had encountered a ..."

2. The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives by Frank Moore, Edward Everett (1867)
"This division, too, after a desperate and gallant struggle had to fall back. Discovering, on my arrival on the ground, that my command had encountered a ..."

3. Southern History of the War by Edward Alfred Pollard (1865)
"The Confederates fall back to Atlanta.—THE BATTLES OF ATLANTA.—Hood's Gallant Defence.— .... The Military Situation in July, 1864.—Grant's Failure. ..."

4. History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France: From the by William Francis Patrick Napier (1842)
"... his junction with Drouet and advances to the succour of the place— Graham and Hill fall back—The bridge of Merida is destroyed—The assault is ordered, ..."

5. The Invasion of the Crimea: Its Origin and an Account of Its Progress Down by Alexander William Kinglake (1863)
"... should fall back in * The 88th, whilst still formed in square, was retreating, and the °r'ler to 77th, though extended in line, was also falling back. ..."

6. John L. Stoddard's Lectures by John Lawson Stoddard (1898)
"The head appears to fall back, as in death; and from this lines of snow, like long disheveled silvery tresses, stream in all directions. ..."

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