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Definition of fall in English:
verb (past fell /f?l/; past participle fallen /'f?:l(?)n/) [no object, with adverbial]1Move from a higher to a lower level, typically rapidly and without control: bombs could be seen falling from the planes
fell out of my bag
(as adjective
falling) she was
by a falling tree technical gravitate1.1 (fall off) Become
and drop to the ground: my
fell off and broke on the 1.2Hang down: hair that was allowed to fall to the shoulders1.3(Of land)
: the land fell away in a
bank rare decline1.4 [no object] (Of someone’s eyes or ) be
: Albert’s eyes fell, and he 1.5 [no object] (Of someone’s face) show
by appearing to : her face fell as she thought about her life with George2(Of a person)
one’s balance and : she fell down at school , , stumble, , slip, slide informal , go for six dated , , , , keel over, , fall in a heap, , take a spill, ,
informal , go for six dated 2.1Throw oneself to the ground: she
and began to 2.2(Of a tree or structure)
to the ground: after the , part of the city fell down, , slump, , , , , fall to pieces2.3 (fall over)
informal (Of computer
or software) s : the program fell over once when I
on the wrong control3 in number, amount, , or quality:
fell by 12
that standards are falling, , , depreciate, decrease in value, lose value, decline in price, cheapen, devalue informal hit the floor, go through the floor, , take a nosedive, take a header, go into a tailspin, crash, , , drop off, go down, go downhill, grow less, , , , , , sink informal hit the floor, go through the floor, , take a nosedive, take a header, go into a tailspin, crash3.1(Of a measuring instrument) show a lower : the
had fallen a further ten points3.2 (fall away) (In sport) play less well: when he
the whole team fell away4Be
or defeated: their mountain
fell to enemy attackbe overthrown by, , be defeated by, be conquered by, be overcome by, be overwhelmed by, lose one's position to, pass into the hands of, fall victim to4.1 Cricket
(Of a ) be taken by the
side: more
fell4.2Die in battle: an English leader who had fallen
the Danes informal , croak, British
informal , North American
archaic decease4.3 [no object] (Of a government or leader) lose office or be .4.4 [no object]
to : it is their husbands'
if wives do fall5Pass into a specified state, situation, or position: many of the buildings fell into
[with complement]: she fell , ,
informal , go off, , crash, , , , North American
informal , 5.1Occur or : when night fell we
back to our lines
fell on , arrive, appear, , arise, materialize5.2 (fall to doing something) Begin to do something: he fell to
about how it had happened5.3Be drawn
into: you must not fall into this common error6Be
in the way specified:
fall within the Minister’s
noun1An act of falling or : his mother had a fall as she
from a traincollapse informal nosedive, , 1.1 Wrestling
the opponent’s shoulders on the ground for a
of three.1.2A
difference in height between parts of a surface: at the corner of the
this fall is
by other heights of
North American
2A thing which falls or has fallen: in
came the first fall of snow
a rock fall2.1A sudden
or : the fall of 2.2 (usually falls) A
from the falls
[in names]: , ; Northern English
forceScottish
archaic linn2.3 literary A
turn in a : that
again, it had a dying fall2.4The way in which something falls or hangs: the fall of her hair2.5 (falls) The parts or
of a flower which
, especially the
in size, number, rate, or level: a big fall in
informal , crash, let-up4A
or : the fall of the government, , , , , , acquiescence, , resignation, defeat4.1A person’s moral .4.2 (the Fall or the Fall of Man)
into a state of ,
in traditional Jewish and Christian
and Eve as described in .5 (also Fall) North American
: that fall Roosevelt was elected to his first term6 rare A
of : there is a fall of
in the round wood above the Phrases be riding
(or heading) for a fall1 informal Be acting in a
way that is likely to end in trouble or :
with your present attitude, you’re riding for a fall fall between two stools2 see . fall foul
(or North American afoul) of3Come into conflict with: one of his songs has fallen foul of
(or into) line4 with others:
not to fall into line with the masses[With reference to military formation] fall in
(or out of) love
(with someone) 5 see . fall into place6(Of a series of events or facts) begin to : once he knew what to look for, the theory fell quickly into place informal
fall on stony ground7 see . fall over oneself to do something8 informal Be excessively
to do something:
fell over themselves to
him fall prey to9 see . fall short
(of) 10(Of a ) fail to reach its . 10.1Be
or : the total vote fell short of the required
be deficient, be inadequate, be insufficient, be wanting, be lacking, , , fail to live up to one's expectations informal not come up to scratch fall to pieces11 see . fall victim to12 see . take the fall13North American
in the place of another person:
and let McFarlane take the fallPhrasal verbs fall about1British
audiences used to fall about when he
his shoulders fall apart
(or to pieces) 2, come apart, or : their marriage is likely to fall apart, , break up, break apart, , dissolve, degenerate, , , ; go downhill,
informal bust2.1(Of a person) lose one’s capacity to : Angie fell to pieces because she had lost everything informal , freak,
fall back3M :
the enemy fell back into a
positionturn tail, flee, take flight, beat a (hasty) retreat fall back on4Have
to when in difficulty: they normally fell back on one of three arguments, ,
fall behind5Fail to
one’s competitors:
Britain has fallen behind in the space business5.1Fail to meet a
to make a regular payment:
falling behind with their
, , dawdle, hang back, , take one's timeget into debt, get into arrears, default, be in the red, be late, not keep up with fall down6B fail: the
fell down because there were a lot of
questionsmiss the mark, run aground, , suffer defeat informal come a cropper,
informal1Fall in love with: she fell for a
younger man informal fancy, be turned on by, 2Be
by (something): he didn’t expect Duncan to fall for a
like that informal go for, buy, , {swallow something hook, line, and sinker}, take something as gospel fall in8Take one’s place in a military : the soldiers fell in by the side of the road Military
dressBritish
informal form a crocodile fall in with91Meet by chance and become involved with: he fell in with
informal hang out with, hang about with, knock about/around with2 to: Rob was
to fall in with her plans, , , ,
(or upon) 101Attack
or : the army fell on the
informal jump, , , , , , get stuck into, , British
informal have a go atNorth American
informal 1.1 : she fell on the
as though she had not eaten in weeks2(Of someone’s eyes or ) be
towards: her
fell on the - 3Be the responsibility of: the cost of
should not fall on the student fall out111(Of the hair, teeth, etc.) become
made my hair fall out2Have an argument: he had fallen out with his family informal , , go at it hammer and tongs, argy-bargy archaic , Scottish
archaic 3Leave one’s place in a military , or : the two
fell out of the stand at ease4H :
fell out as Stephen arranged fall through12C fail: the project fell through due to lack of money fall to13(Of a task) become the duty or responsibility of: it fell to me to write to Shephardcome someone's way, be unsuccessful, , , fail to happen, , , go awry, be frustrated, , , ; come to a halt, , end, terminate informal , , fold, come a cropper, blow up in someone's face, 13.1(Of property)
given falls to the Origin fallan, feallan, related to
vallen and German fallen; the noun is partly from the verb, partly from
fall 'downfall, sin'.Words that rhyme with fallall, appal (US appall), awl, Bacall, ball, bawl, befall, Bengal, brawl, call, caul, crawl, Donegal, drawl, drywall, enthral (US enthrall), forestall, gall, Galle, Gaul, hall, haul, maul, miaul, miscall, Montreal, Naipaul, Nepal, orle, pall, Paul, pawl, Saul, schorl, scrawl, seawall, Senegal, shawl, small, sprawl, squall, stall, stonewall, tall, thrall, trawl, wall, waul, wherewithal, withal, yawl
Definition of fall in:
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HighlightsOwners question the wisdom of making payments on deeply underwater homes.Default is increasingly viewed less emotionally and more strategically.First, consider the financial consequences of strategic default.
When David Valadez walked away from his home loans, he drew some criticism. Friends told him: "You have a contract with the lender and it's wrong to quit paying your mortgage just because your property lost value."His response: "Yes, I signed a contract. It's a business contract, and business contracts are broken all the time."The lender foreclosed on Valadez's condominium unit in San Jose, Calif., a few months ago. Looking back, Valadez says he's glad he was able to view the strategic default as a financial decision, not an emotional one."I'm very relieved that I got that white elephant off my shoulders," he says.Unlike borrowers who can't afford to keep up with their mortgage payments, strategic defaulters have the ability to pay but choose to walk away.Valadez, a retired teacher, says he earns enough to afford the more than $2,000 monthly payments on his two home loans. But he didn't think it made financial sense to sink more money into a property that was valued at $130,000 when his mortgages totaled more than $300,000.
Keep paying or let go?Valadez's story is familiar to millions of homeowners who are current on their house payments but owe much more on their mortgages than their properties are worth. More than five years into the housing crisis and despite recent improvements in home prices, these homeowners wonder whether they should continue to pay their mortgages or simply let go and walk away."They are looking at their property values and saying 'It's been four or five years and I still have a lot of negative equity, so maybe it makes financial sense to walk,'" says Jon Maddux, co-founder and former CEO of You Walk Away, a company that, for a fee, guides homeowners through strategic default.Unlike in the early days of the financial crisis, underwater homeowners have been putting their emotions and morality questions aside and are increasingly viewing strategic default as a business decision, Maddux says."There's definitely less emotion and more strategy in their thinking," he says.Right versus wrongAs with Valadez, strategic defaulters often face strong criticism because of the notion that their default hurts neighborhoods and property values even more.But homeowners considering strategic default quickly rebut the morality question by pointing to large institutions that have opted for strategic default on commercial properties and developments.One example often cited by supporters of strategic defaulters is one of the biggest mortgage defaults in history. In 2010, real estate giants Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty defaulted on $4.4 billion in loans on two major apartment complexes in New York City's Manhattan, letting the lender take over the properties after the development had lost about half of its value."It happens all the time," Valadez says. "It's a free economy. This is simply a business decision."
Strategic default through business lensesAs with every business decision, homeowners should carefully consider the financial consequences of strategic default, says Robert Stone, senior business consultant at Experian's Decision Analytics.Walking away from your mortgage harms your credit substantially, Stone says. A homeowner with a credit score in the high 700s could see a drop of as much as 100 points after going delinquent, he says.Strategic defaulters generally have excellent credit scores up until the time of default, Stone says."They are sophisticated, rational investors who saw their equity disappear," he says.Alternatives to strategic defaultHomeowners who want to let go of their mortgages should to try to get a loan modification or reach another agreement with the lender to minimize the impact on their credit score, Stone says. Consider a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, which involves turning the property over to the lender without going through the foreclosure process. Requesting a short sale, when the lender allows the homeowner to sell for less than what is owed on the mortgage, also is an alternative."Those are considered to be slightly better outcomes than a foreclosure," Stone says.Trying to work out an agreement with the lender didn't work for Valadez."I called the lender at least five times and each time I was told I made too much money," says Valadez, who now works as a salesman.If you walk, plan aheadIf you find that your only option is to walk away, like Valadez, plan accordingly.Many strategic defaulters open new, high-limit credit card accounts before they default. Others get mortgages and buy cheaper homes before they let go of their underwater property, Stone says.When you know your credit will be damaged, it's wise to stash away some money before default, says Valadez. He saved what would go toward his mortgage payments while waiting for the foreclosure to be completed."I knew my only clear option was strategic default, so I prepared myself for that and I made sure I had money in the bank," he says.He says he kept up with homeowners association payments and insurance while living at the condo.Depending on which state you live in, you should consider whether the lender can sue you to collect the balance of the loan after the foreclosure is completed. If the lender sues and obtains a deficiency judgment against you, the debt can haunt you for years.For Valadez, that wasn't an issue because California laws prohibit lenders from pursuing deficiency judgments on purchase loans. In many states, lenders have years to file a lawsuit against the borrower."Know all the consequences before you make a decision," Maddux says.
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