fall away
— phrasal verb with fall uk/fɔːl/us/fɑːl/verb fell, fallen
(BREAK)
If parts of something fall away, they break off and drop to the ground:
On the bathroom ceiling, some pieces of plaster had fallen away.
The rear sections of the rocket fell away.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Falling and dropping
- ass
- ass over teakettle idiom
- collapse
- collapse/fall in a heap idiom
- cropper
- crumple
- drop
- drop like flies idiom
- drop sb/sth off
- fly
- let go idiom
- nosedive
- overbalance
- parachutist
- plunge
- pratfall
- put sth/sb down
- relinquish
- shower
- thump
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(TIME)
literary If a period of time falls away, it seems as if it has not happened:
As she looked at him, the years fell away, and she saw him again as a young boy.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Spending time & time passing
- all the time in the world idiom
- Anno Domini
- course
- elapse
- employ
- fall
- go by
- misspend
- pass
- passage
- passing
- run
- sand
- spread sth over sth
- the sands of time are running out idiom
- tick
- tick away/by
- time and tide wait for no man idiom
- time flies idiom
- while
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(LAND)
If land falls away, it slopes down suddenly:
On the other side of the hill, the land falls away sharply.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Slanting, sloping, leaning, tilting
- angle
- askew
- bank
- cocked
- cockeyed
- gentle
- oblique
- pitch
- pitched
- raked
- roll
- shelve
- skew
- skew-whiff
- slanted
- slope
- steep
- steepen
- tip (sth/sb) over
- yaw
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(REDUCE)
UK → fall off :
The quality of his work has fallen away a little.