fall off
1. To fall from a particular surface or position. Please be careful not to fall off the roof! I finally found my phone—it must have fallen off the bed. A: "What was that crash?" B: "A picture fell off the wall."
2. To decline or lessen. Because this project is taking so long to complete, people's excitement about it has really fallen off. A lot of support for the team fell off during their extremely disappointing season. It's natural for kids' interest in school to fall off as Christmas gets closer.
3. To turn a ship in the direction of the wind. Captain, we need to fall off a little, so as to not hit that embankment. What are you doing? You're liable to capsize the ship if you fall off in this weather! Fall off a bit and see if the boat picks up speed.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
fall off (of something)
to drop off something. (of is usually retained before pronouns.) A button fell off my shirt. I fell off the log. The twigs fell off of him as he stood up.
fall off
to decline or diminish. Business falls off during the summer months. My interest in school fell off when I became twenty.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
fall off
v.1. To drop or descend from the top of something: I fell off the ladder and bruised my knee.
2. To become less; decrease: Stock prices fell off markedly, resulting in a loss for thousands of accounts. The number of staff meetings fell off after a few months as our initial enthusiasm waned. I started a new diet and the pounds fell off.
3. To lose weight. Used of livestock: Toward the end of the dry season, the cattle fall off rapidly.
4. Nautical To change course to leeward: We have a lot of pressure on the sail; let's fall off a little.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.