1 when someone accidentally falls from a standing position

fall / fl / [ intransitive verb ] to accidentally fall from a standing position :

She was going up the stairs when she fell.
George held on tightly, afraid that he might fall.
fall down the stairs/steps etc
There was concern for the Queen Mother yesterday after she fell down a short flight
of steps at the airport.
fall over/down / fl v, dan / [ intransitive phrasal verb ] to fall onto the ground
from a standing position :
Ben fell down and scraped his knee.
Beginning skiers can expect to fall down a lot.
The pavement was slippery and it was easy to fall over.
have a fall / hv fl / [ verb phrase not in progressive ] British if someone,
especially an old person, has a fall , they fall and hurt themselves :
My neighbour has had a fall and broken a rib.
Grandma had a bad fall in the snow that winter.
tumble / tmb l / [ intransitive verb ] to fall quickly down a slope or down stairs,
rolling over and over and unable to stop :
tumble down/off/into etc
She tumbled down the stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom.
A bus veered off the road and tumbled down the hill into the river below.
fall flat on your face / fl flt n j fes / [ verb phrase ] to fall over suddenly so that
you are lying on your front on the ground, especially in a way that makes you look
funny :
She fell flat on her face getting out of the car.
The last time I wore high-heeled shoes I fell flat on my face outside a restaurant.
collapse / klps / [ intransitive verb ] to fall suddenly and heavily onto the ground,
into a chair etc, because of tiredness, illness, or injury :
One of the horses collapsed from exhaustion after the race.
collapse on
Cohen was hospitalized after he collapsed on the floor and briefly lost consciousness.
collapse into
Milligan collapsed into a chair, sighing deeply.
collapse [ singular noun ]
After Stephens sudden collapse during the meeting, he was rushed to the hospital.
keel over / kil v / [ intransitive phrasal verb ] to suddenly fall to the ground,
because you are ill or have had a shock :
Shed been complaining of a headache all morning, and suddenly she just keeled
over.
Carson keeled over and died in front of the nightclub after taking a number of illegal
drugs.
go head over heels / g hed v hilz / [ verb phrase ] to fall forward with so much
force that you roll over :
She slipped on the polished floor and went head over heels.
Shellys horse stepped into soft sand and went down, horse and rider going head
over heels in a cloud of dust.

2 to almost fall from a standing position

trip also trip over British / trp, trp v / [ intransitive verb ] to accidentally hit
something with your foot when you are walking or running, so that you fall or nearly
fall :
I didnt push him - he tripped.
Shed had quite a lot to drink and kept tripping over.
trip over
Pick up that box -- someone might trip over it.
trip on
Her medical problems began when she tripped on a rug and broke her hip.
trip and fall
One boy tripped and fell into the water.
slip / slp / [ intransitive verb ] to accidentally slide on a wet or smooth surface, so that
you fall or nearly fall :
Be careful you dont slip - the floors wet.
slip on
She slipped on the icy sidewalk and grabbed Wills arm to steady herself.
slip and fall
I walked slowly through the mud, trying not to slip and fall.
stumble / stmb l / [ intransitive verb ] to nearly fall down when you are walking or
running, because you do not put your foot down carefully or because something is in
the way :
In her hurry, Eva stumbled and dropped the tray she was carrying.
stumble on/over
Mason headed towards the house, stumbling on the rough ground.
lose your balance / luz j blns / [ verb phrase ] to fall or nearly fall, when you
need to balance carefully to remain in an upright position, for example when you are
standing on a ladder or riding a bicycle :
I tried to help Gina up, but I lost my balance and we both fell into the stream.
Bill was leaning over to watch, and lost his balance.
lose your footing / luz j ft / [ verb phrase ] to lose your balance because your
foot slips, especially when you are walking or climbing over an uneven or slippery
surface :
I lost my footing on the snowy bank and fell into the river.
A climber who lost his footing was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
3 when an upright object, a building, a wall, etc falls
fall / fl / [ intransitive verb ]
She was playing just yards from where the building fell.
fall across/onto/on top of
A tree had fallen across the road and blocked it.
fall off/out of/from
The days were getting shorter and the leaves had started falling from the trees
I cant find my passport - it must have fallen out of my pocket.
fallen [ adjective only before noun ]
Fallen trees blocked the railway tracks.
fall over / fl v / [ intransitive phrasal verb ] if a tall object falls over , it falls onto
its side from an upright position :
That bookcase looks as if its about to fall over.
There was no wind; the tree just fell over.

fall down / fl dan / [ intransitive phrasal verb ] if a building, wall, or fence falls
down , part or all of it falls to the ground, because it is in bad condition or because it
has been damaged :
A boy was injured yesterday when part of a wall fell down near to where he was
playing.
A large tree fell down during a windstorm and damaged our car.
collapse / klps / [ intransitive verb ] if a building, wall etc collapses , it suddenly
falls down, especially because of a sudden pressure :
Our tent collapsed in the middle of the night.
The building was badly damaged in the explosion, and rescue workers are worried
that it may collapse.
Minutes later the second tower collapsed.
fall in / fl n / [ intransitive phrasal verb ] if a roof falls in , it falls to the ground
inside the building :
During the hurricane the roof fell in.
fall in on
We need to fix the ceiling before it falls in on us.
cave in / kev n / [ intransitive phrasal verb ] if a roof, wall etc caves in , it suddenly
and heavily falls inwards especially because it is weak and in bad condition :
The roof has caved in, so the whole building has been declared unsafe.
cave in on
Wooden beams support the roof, preventing it from caving in on the miners.
topple over / tp l vt- / [ intransitive phrasal verb ] if something topples
over , it moves unsteadily backwards and forwards then falls to the ground :
The little boy put one more brick on the tower and it toppled over.
That plants going to topple over if you dont put it in a bigger pot.
tip over / tp v / [ intransitive phrasal verb ] to suddenly turn and fall to the ground
as a result of not being properly balanced :
I sat on the edge of the table, and the whole thing tipped over.
The fire started when a lamp tipped over and ignited a cloth sofa.
4 to fall through the air to the ground
fall / fl / [ intransitive verb ]
One of the climbers fell fifty feet.
A light rain was falling.
fall out/into/from etc
She opened the cupboard and everything fell out.
There should be spaces between the boards of the deck to allow debris to fall
through.
Fred fell out of the tree and broke his arm.
The girl had fallen from a fourth-floor window, but was not badly hurt.
fall on
Careful that box doesnt fall on you, Charlotte!
fall off / fl f / [ intransitive/transitive phrasal verb ] to accidentally fall from
something in a high position to the ground :
Jim was laughing so hard he fell off his chair.
A bag of groceries fell off the table onto the floor.
plunge / plnd / [ intransitive verb ] to suddenly fall a long way from somewhere high
up :
The aeroplanes engines failed and it plunged into the ocean.
plunge off/down/into etc
Their car swerved to avoid a truck, and plunged off the cliff.

plunge to your death

fall a long way and be killed
A skydiver plunged to his death yesterday when his parachute failed to open.
plummet / plmt, plmt / [ intransitive verb ] to fall from somewhere high up, very
quickly and very directly :
The rope snapped, causing the climber to plummet several hundred feet down the
mountain.
Two aircraft on a training flight collided and plummeted to the ground.
drop / drpdrp / [ intransitive verb ] to fall suddenly from a high place straight down
onto or towards the ground :
drop onto/to/from etc
Two bottles rolled across the table, dropped onto the floor, and smashed.
A few pine cones had already dropped to the ground.
tumble / tmb l / [ intransitive verb ] to fall quickly through the air, rolling over and
over :
tumble down/off/from etc
A little girl tumbled about 30 feet from the window of her familys third-floor
apartment.
come down / km dan / [ intransitive phrasal verb ] if rain, snow etc comes down ,
it falls heavily :
We cant go out now -- the rains really coming down.
Snow was coming down so thickly I could barely see through the window.
5 to fall off a horse, bicycle etc
fall off / fl f / [ intransitive/transitive verb ] to accidentally fall from something you
are riding on, for example a horse or a bicycle :
He fell off his bike and broke his wrist.
A bolt broke on an amusement park ride, and several children who fell off were
seriously injured.
be thrown / bi rn / [ verb phrase ] to fall off a horse or similar animal because of a
violent or sudden movement :
Rodeo riders can suffer appalling injuries after being thrown by bulls and steers.
be thrown from
He broke his neck when he was thrown from a horse.
6 to deliberately make someone fall
knock somebody over/knock somebody down / nk somebody v, nk
somebody dannk- / [ transitive phrasal verb ] to push or hit someone hard, so that
they fall to the ground :
knock somebody over/down
Careful where youre going! You nearly knocked me over!
In the rush to get out of the building, she was knocked down.
knock down/over somebody
Some of the bigger boys purposely knock over the smaller ones.
trip also trip up / trp, trp p / British / trp, trp p / [ ] to make someone fall or
almost fall by putting your foot or another object in their way :
One of the runners claimed she had been tripped.
trip somebody up
One man tripped me up and the other one grabbed my handbag.

push somebody over / p somebody v / [ transitive phrasal verb ] to deliberately

push someone with your hand so that they fall to the ground :
Another little kid came and pushed him over onto the grass.
knock somebody to the ground / nk somebody t grand nk- / [ verb phrase
] to hit someone so hard that they lose their balance and fall to the ground :
A teenage boy knocked him to the ground and ran off with his briefcase.
7 to let something fall or make something fall
drop / drpdrp / [ transitive verb ] to stop holding something so that it falls,
especially accidentally :
Watch you dont drop that box - its very heavy.
Her hands shake constantly and she keeps dropping things.
You dropped your toy. Do you want it back?
drop something on/onto something
Margaret dropped the letters onto her desk.
knock over / nk vnk- / [ transitive phrasal verb ] to hit something so that it
falls onto its side from an upright position, especially when you do this accidentally :
knock something over
Be careful or youll knock the vase over.
knock over something
He bumped into the table and knocked over the candle.
spill / spl / [ transitive verb ] to accidentally let liquid, powder, or small pieces of
something fall onto a surface and spread out over it :
Oops, I just spilled my water.
spill something down/all over/onto something
How was the party? OK, but some idiot spilled wine all over my new dress.
Aaron spilled all the popcorn on the floor.
tip over / tp v / [ transitive phrasal verb ] to make something fall over, usually
accidentally, by making it lose balance :
tip something over
The cat managed to tip the Christmas tree over.
tip over something
He accidentally tipped over a candle, and the tablecloth caught fire.
overturn / vtn / [ transitive verb ] to make something fall on its side or turn
something over completely, especially by pushing it very hard :
The wind was so strong that it overturned dustbins and wrecked fences.
Protestors overturned cars and set fire to them.
upset / pset / [ transitive verb ] to accidentally knock or push something over, so that
its contents fall out and spread over a wide area :
One of the kids upset a bottle of water on the table.