fall vs flow what difference
what is difference between fall and flow
English
Etymology 1
Verb from Middle English fallen, from Old English feallan (“to fall, fail, decay, die, attack”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallan (“to fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pōl-.
Cognate with West Frisian falle (“to fall”), Low German fallen (“to fall”), Dutch vallen (“to fall”), German fallen (“to fall”), Norwegian Bokmål falle (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk falla (“to fall”), Icelandic falla (“to fall”), Albanian fal (“forgive, pray, salute, greet”), Lithuanian pùlti (“to attack, rush”).
Noun from Middle English fal, fall, falle, from Old English feall, ġefeall (“a falling, fall”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pōl-. Cognate with Dutch val, German Fall, Swedish fall, Icelandic fall.
Sense of “autumn” is attested by the 1660s in England as a shortening of Middle English fall of the leaf (1540s), from the falling of leaves during this season. Along with autumn, it mostly replaced the older name harvest as that name began to be associated strictly with the act of harvesting. Compare spring, which began as a shortening of “spring of the leaf”.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: fôl, IPA(key): /fɔːl/
- (General American) enPR: fôl, IPA(key): /fɔl/
- (cot–caught merger) enPR: fäl, IPA(key): /fɑl/
- Rhymes: -ɔːl
Verb
fall (third-person singular simple present falls, present participle falling, simple past fell or (in archaic sense only) felled, past participle fallen or (in archaic sense only) felled)
- (heading, intransitive) To be moved downwards.
- To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
- There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger’s weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
- To come down, to drop or descend.
- 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, Bulldog Drummond, Ch.1:
- Her eyes fell on the table, and she advanced into the room wiping her hands on her apron.
- 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, Bulldog Drummond, Ch.1:
- To come as if by dropping down.
- 1898, William Le Queux, Whoso Findeth a Wife, page 256:
- Once or twice a noise fell upon his quick ear, and we halted, he standing revolver in hand in an attitude of defense. Each time, however, we ascertained that we had no occasion for alarm, the noise being made by some animal or bird …
- 1904, Bram Stoker, The Jewel of Seven Stars, page 248:
- And then a sudden calm fell on us like a cloud of fear. There! on the table, lay the Jewel of Seven Stars, shining and sparkling with lurid light, as though each of the seven points of each of the seven stars gleamed through blood!
- 1971, Henry Raup Wagner, Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca:
- Shortly afterwards a breeze came up from the N […] dark clouds closing in over everything. At 3 in the afternoon the breeze came up from the S with a thick drizzle. Thus night fell, and thus we passed the rest of it.
- 1981, Dan Kirby, Schreiber’s Choice, Ace Books (→ISBN)
- The horse wrangler, a tall, bronzed-face man, waved to the wagon driver. The driver laughed. […] The canvas cover rolled up suddenly and a terrible noise fell over the desert.
- 1898, William Le Queux, Whoso Findeth a Wife, page 256:
- To come to the ground deliberately, to prostrate oneself.
- To be brought to the ground.
- To move to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
- (transitive) To move downwards.
- (obsolete) To let fall; to drop.
- (obsolete) To sink; to depress.
- (Britain, US, dialect, archaic) To fell; to cut down.
- (obsolete) To let fall; to drop.
- (intransitive) To change, often negatively.
- (copulative, in idiomatic expressions) To become.
- At length they stood at the corner from which they had begun, and it had fallen quite dark, and they were no wiser.
- 1971, Henry Raup Wagner, Spanish Explorations in the Strait of Juan de Fuca:
- Shortly afterwards a breeze came up from the N and then it fell calm, […]
- (intransitive) To collapse; to be overthrown or defeated.
- (intransitive, formal, euphemistic) To die, especially in battle or by disease.
- (intransitive) To become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc.).
- 1612, John Davies, Discoverie of the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued
- The greatness of these Irish lords suddenly fell and vanished.
- 1835, Sir John Ross, Sir James Clark Ross, Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Vol.1, pp.284-5:
- Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
- 1612, John Davies, Discoverie of the True Causes why Ireland was never entirely subdued
- (copulative, in idiomatic expressions) To become.
- To occur (on a certain day of the week, date, or similar); to happen.
- 1978, Dwight David Eisenhower, Mamie Doud Eisenhower, Letters to Mamie, Doubleday Books:
- (Thus D-day fell on June 6 rather than the planned June 5.)
- 1978, Dwight David Eisenhower, Mamie Doud Eisenhower, Letters to Mamie, Doubleday Books:
- (intransitive) To be allotted to; to arrive through chance, fate, or inheritance.
- (transitive, obsolete) To diminish; to lessen or lower.
- Upon lessening interest to four per cent, you fall the price of your native commodities.
- (transitive, obsolete) To bring forth.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; said of the young of certain animals.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
- (intransitive) To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin.
- Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
- (intransitive) To become ensnared or entrapped; to be worse off than before.
- (intransitive) To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; said of the face.
- Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
- I have observed of late thy looks are fallen.
- (intransitive) To happen; to come to pass; to chance or light (upon).
- Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall.
- 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I Scene 2
- […] An the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him.
- 1879, Herbert Spenser, Principles of Sociology Volume II – Part IV: Ceremonial Institutions
- Primitive men […] do not make laws, they fall into customs.
- (intransitive) To begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence; to rush or hurry.
- 1881, Benjamin Jowett (Thucydides)
- They now no longer doubted, but fell to work heart and soul.
- 1881, Benjamin Jowett (Thucydides)
- (intransitive) To be dropped or uttered carelessly.
- (intransitive, of a fabric) To hang down (under the influence of gravity).
Quotations
- c. 1591, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Richard the third, Andrew Wiſe (publisher, 1598 — second quarto), Act V, Scene 3:
- Ghoaſt [of Clarence]. […] / To morrow in the battaile thinke on me, / And fall thy edgeleſſe ſword, diſpaire and die.
Synonyms
- (move to a lower position under the effect of gravity): drop, plummet, plunge
- (come down): come down, descend, drop
- (come to the ground deliberately): drop, lower oneself, prostrate oneself
- (be brought to the ground):
- (collapse; be overthrown or defeated): be beaten by, be defeated by, be overthrown by, be smitten by, be vanquished by,
- (die): die
- (be allotted to): be the responsibility of, be up to
- (become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc)): dip, drop
- (become): become, get
- (cause (something) to descend to the ground): cut down (of a tree), fell, knock down, knock over, strike down
Antonyms
- (come down): ascend, go up, rise
- (come to the ground deliberately): get up, pick oneself up, stand up
- (collapse; be overthrown or defeated): beat, defeat, overthrow, smite, vanquish
- (become lower (in quantity, pitch, etc)): rise
Coordinate terms
- topple
- tumble
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Noun
fall (countable and uncountable, plural falls)
- The act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
- A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.
- “I’m through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.
- (chiefly Canada, US, archaic in Britain) The time of the year when the leaves typically fall from the trees; autumn; the season of the year between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. [from 16th c.]
- A loss of greatness or status.
- That which falls or cascades.
- (sports) A crucial event or circumstance.
- (cricket, of a wicket) The action of a batsman being out.
- (curling) A defect in the ice which causes stones thrown into an area to drift in a given direction.
- (wrestling) An instance of a wrestler being pinned to the mat.
- A hairpiece for women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended primarily to cover hair loss.
- (informal, US) Blame or punishment for a failure or misdeed.
- The part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting (usu. plural).
- An old Scots unit of measure equal to six ells.
- A short, flexible piece of leather forming part of a bullwhip, placed between the thong and the cracker.
- The lid, on a piano, that covers the keyboard
Synonyms
- (act of moving to a lower position): descent, drop
- (reduction): decrease, dip, drop, lowering, reduction
- (season): autumn, (UK dialect) harvest, (UK dialect) back end
- (loss of greatness or status): downfall
- (blame; punishment): rap
Antonyms
- (act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity): ascent, rise
- (reduction): increase, rise
- (loss of greatness or status): ascent, rise
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
See also
- falls
Etymology 2
Perhaps from the north-eastern Scottish pronunciation of whale.
Interjection
fall
- (nautical) The cry given when a whale is sighted, or harpooned.
Noun
fall (plural falls)
- (nautical) The chasing of a hunted whale.
Derived terms
- loose fall
Albanian
Etymology
From Turkish fal, from Arabic فَأْل (faʾl, “omen”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /faɫ/
Noun
fall m (indefinite plural falle, definite singular falli, definite plural fallet)
- fortune telling
Declension
Derived terms
References
Breton
Adjective
fall
- bad
Catalan
Etymology
From fallir.
Noun
fall m (plural falls)
- cliff
Related terms
- falla
Further reading
- “fall” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Faroese
Etymology
From Old Norse fall, from falla (“to fall”). The grammatical sense is a calque of Latin casus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fatl/
Noun
fall n (genitive singular fals, plural føll)
- fall, drop
- case (linguistics)
Declension
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fal/
- Rhymes: -al
Verb
fall
- singular imperative of fallen
- (colloquial) first-person singular present of fallen
Icelandic
Etymology
From Old Norse fall, from falla (“to fall”). The grammatical sense is a calque of Latin casus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fatl/
- Rhymes: -atl
Noun
fall n (genitive singular falls, nominative plural föll)
- fall, drop
- (grammar) case
- (computing, programming) function; (subprogram, usually with formal parameters, returning a data value when called)
- indefinite accusative singular of fall
Declension
Synonyms
- (function): fallstefja
Derived terms
See also
- falla (verb)
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
fall n (definite singular fallet, indefinite plural fall, definite plural falla or fallene)
- a fall
- case
- i fall – in case
- i alle fall – in any case
Derived terms
Related terms
- falle (verb)
Verb
fall
- imperative of falle
References
- “fall” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɑlː/
Noun
fall n (definite singular fallet, indefinite plural fall, definite plural falla)
- a fall
- case
Derived terms
Verb
fall
- past tense of falle
- imperative of falle
References
- “fall” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse fall, from falla (“to fall”). The grammatical sense is a calque of Latin casus.
Pronunciation
Noun
fall n
- a fall (the act of falling)
- a fall, loss of greatness or wealth, a bankruptcy
- a slope, a waterfall, the height of a slope or waterfall
- a (legal) case
Declension
Related terms
Verb
fall
- imperative of falla.
References
- fall in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: flō
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fləʊ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /floʊ/
- Homophones: floe, Flo
- Rhymes: -əʊ
Etymology 1
From Middle English flowen, from Old English flōwan (“to flow”), from Proto-West Germanic *flōan, from Proto-Germanic *flōaną (“to flow”), from Proto-Indo-European *plōw-, lengthened o-grade form of *plew- (“to fly, flow, run”). Compare float.
Noun
flow (countable and uncountable, plural flows)
- Movement in people or things characterized with a continuous motion, involving either a non solid mass or a multitude
- Water flows from an open tap.
- Rumors flow from one person to the next.
- The movement of a real or figurative fluid.
- (mathematics) A formalization of the idea of the motion of particles in a fluid, as a group action of the real numbers on a set.
- The notion of flow is basic to the study of ordinary differential equations.
- The rising movement of the tide.
- Smoothness or continuity.
- The amount of a fluid that moves or the rate of fluid movement.
- A flow pipe, carrying liquid away from a boiler or other central plant (compare with return pipe which returns fluid to central plant).
- (psychology) A mental state characterized by concentration, focus and enjoyment of a given task.
- The emission of blood during menstruation.
- (rap music slang) The ability to skilfully rap along to a beat.
- (computing) The sequence of steps taken in a piece of software to perform some action. (Usually preceded by an attributive such as login or search.)
Synonyms
- (continuity): See also Thesaurus:continuity
Antonyms
- (movement of the tide): ebb
- (continuity): See also Thesaurus:discontinuity
Hyponyms
Derived terms
- ebb and flow
- flowchart
- flowmeter
- freeflow
- single-flow
Translations
Further reading
- flow on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Flow (psychology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Verb
flow (third-person singular simple present flows, present participle flowing, simple past and past participle flowed)
- (intransitive) To move as a fluid from one position to another.
- Rivers flow from springs and lakes.
- Tears flow from the eyes.
- (intransitive) To proceed; to issue forth.
- Wealth flows from industry and economy.
- (intransitive) To move or match smoothly, gracefully, or continuously.
- The writing is grammatically correct, but it just doesn’t flow.
- , Dedication
- Virgil […] is […] sweet and flowing in his hexameters.
- (intransitive) To have or be in abundance; to abound, so as to run or flow over.
- In that day […] the hills shall flow with milk.
- 1845, John Wilson, The Genius and Character of Robert Burns
- the exhilaration of a night that needed not the influence of the flowing bowl
- (intransitive) To hang loosely and wave.
- a flowing mantle; flowing locks
- March 11, 1788, Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers
- the imperial purple flowing in his train
- (intransitive) To rise, as the tide; opposed to ebb.
- The tide flows twice in twenty-four hours.
- (transitive, computing) To arrange (text in a wordprocessor, etc.) so that it wraps neatly into a designated space; to reflow.
- (transitive) To cover with water or other liquid; to overflow; to inundate; to flood.
- (transitive) To cover with varnish.
- (intransitive) To discharge excessive blood from the uterus.
Derived terms
- flowable, reflowable
- free-flowing
- overflow
- underflow
Translations
Etymology 2
Uncertain. Perhaps from Old Norse flói (“a large bay, firth”), see floe. Compare Scots flow (“peat-bog, marsh”), Icelandic flói (“marshy ground”).
Noun
flow (plural flows)
- (Scotland) A morass or marsh.
References
- “flow, n.2.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
- “flow, v., n.1” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.
Anagrams
- Wolf, fowl, wolf
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈflow/, [ˈflow]
Noun
flow m (plural flows)
- flow