fall apart
— phrasal verb with fall uk/fɔːl/us/fɑːl/verb fell, fallen
(BREAK)
B2 to break into pieces:
My poor old boots are falling apart.
More examples
- He bought some cheap shoes that fell apart after a couple of months.
- My jacket is so old it's falling apart.
- I picked up the book and it fell apart in my hands.
- My old coat is falling apart at the seams.
- I really have to replace this bag - it's falling apart.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Tearing and breaking into pieces
- apart
- asunder
- bobble
- break (sth) off
- breakage
- catch
- crack
- flake
- fragment
- fragmented
- frayed
- in ribbons idiom
- knacker
- pull sth apart
- rent
- rip
- shear
- split
- tear sth up
- torn
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(STOP WORKING)
B2 If an organization, system, or agreement falls apart, it fails or stops working effectively:
The deal fell apart because of a lack of financing.
Their marriage fell apart when she found out about her husband's affair.
More examples
- The whole family seems to be falling apart since Daniel died.
- The whole apparatus of communism was already falling apart.
- Arsenal's defence were strong, but their midfield fell apart in the first five minutes of the match.
- I thought the whole meeting was going to fall apart but you rescued it like a true professional!
- Their marriage is falling apart at the seams.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Failing and doing badly
- at-risk
- backbencher
- balls-up
- be running on empty idiom
- beat a dead horse idiom
- collapse
- crack
- crash
- draw
- fail
- flunk out
- fray around/at the edges idiom
- fumble
- get off on the right/wrong foot idiom
- give up on sb/sth
- screw (sth) up
- sink like a stone idiom 1
- sink like a stone
- so much for sth idiom
- stagnate
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(EMOTIONS)
informal to experience serious emotional problems that make you unable to think or act in the usual way:
After his wife died, he began to fall apart.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Mental & psychiatric disorders
- ad
- adjustment disorder
- age-associated memory impairment
- anhedonia
- anorexia nervosa
- eating disorder
- learning difficulties
- male menopause
- melancholia
- obsessive
- paranoia
- persecution complex
- PTSD
- sad
- schizophrenia
- schizophrenic
- seasonal affective disorder
- Sen
- Stockholm syndrome
- visual variant of Alzheimer's disease
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