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View synonyms for

fell

1

[ fel ]

verb

  1. simple past tense of fall.

fell

2

[ fel ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to knock, strike, shoot, or cut down; cause to fall: to fell a tree.

    to fell a moose;

    to fell a tree.

  2. Sewing. to finish (a seam) by sewing the edge down flat.

noun

  1. Lumbering. the amount of timber cut down in one season.
  2. Sewing. a seam finished by felling.

fell

3

[ fel ]

adjective

  2. fell poison;

    fell disease.

fell

4

[ fel ]

noun

Chiefly Literary.
  1. the skin or hide of an animal; pelt.

fell

5

[ fel ]

noun

Scot. and North England.
  1. an upland pasture, moor, or thicket; a highland plateau.

fell

1

/ ɛ /

verb

  1. to cut or knock down

    to fell a tree

    to fell an opponent

  2. needlework to fold under and sew flat (the edges of a seam)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the timber felled in one season
  2. a seam finished by felling
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

fell

2

/ ɛ /

adjective

  1. archaic.
    cruel or fierce; terrible
  2. archaic.
    destructive or deadly

    a fell disease

  3. one fell swoop
    a single hasty action or occurrence
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

fell

3

/ ɛ /

verb

  1. the past tense of fall
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

fell

4

/ ɛ /

noun

  1. an animal skin or hide
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

fell

5

/ ɛ /

noun

  1. often plural
    1. a mountain, hill, or tract of upland moor
    2. ( in combination )

      fell-walking

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈڱ, adjective
  • ˈڱԱ, noun
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Other Word Forms

  • ڱ·Ա noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of fell1

First recorded before 900; Middle English fellen, fillen, fullen, Old English fellan, fyllan “to cut, cut down, destroy, shed (tears),” causative of feallan “to fall, fall down”; cognate with Gothic falljan, Old Frisian falla, fella, Old High German fellen, German ä “to make fall”; fall

Origin of fell2

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English fel “treacherous, deceitful, false,” from Old French, nominative of felon “w”; felon 1

Origin of fell3

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English fel(l); cognate with Dutch vel, German Fell, Old Norse -fjall (as in berfjall “b𲹰쾱”), Gothic -fill (in thrutsfill “leprosy,” literally “scab skin”); akin to Latin pellis “skin, hide,” Greek éŧ “small, light, leather-covered shield”

Origin of fell4

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English fel “hill, mountain; upland or pasture; a moor or down”; from Old Norse fjall, -fell, “hill, mountain,” akin to German Fels “rock, cliff”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of fell1

Old English fellan ; related to Old Norse fella , Old High German fellen ; see fall

Origin of fell2

C13 fel , from Old French: cruel, from Medieval Latin ڱō villain; see felon 1

Origin of fell3

Old English; related to Old High German fel skin, Old Norse berfjall bearskin, Latin pellis skin; see peel 1

Origin of fell4

C13: from Old Norse fjall ; related to Old High German felis rock
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. at / in one fell swoop. swoop ( def 5 ).

More idioms and phrases containing fell

see one fell swoop .
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

House prices fell in April as buyers faced paying thousands of pounds more in stamp duty, according to new figures from Nationwide.

From

The company's latest financial figures showed that global sales fell by 1% in the three months to the end of March, the fifth quarterly decline in a row.

From

Some Australian exports of certain goods to China fell to nearly zero.

From

At some point, it looked like the deal was pretty much done - but then came the Covid-19 pandemic and suddenly it fell through.

From

This year he fell ill with a recurrence of Richter’s syndrome — an especially dangerous form of lymphoma.

From

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Related Words

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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