fall back
Britishverb
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to recede or retreat
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to have recourse (to)
noun
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a retreat
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a reserve, esp money, that can be called upon in need
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anything to which one can have recourse as a second choice
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( as modifier )
a fall-back position
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Give ground, retreat, as in The troops fell back before the relentless enemy assault , or He stuck to his argument, refusing to fall back . [c. 1600]
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Recede, as in The waves fell back from the shore . [c. 1800]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Risk premiums have fallen back to levels last seen before Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said Thursday.
Saudi Aramco restored output within weeks by drawing on inventory buffers and rerouting crude from other facilities, which is why prices fell back quickly.
From Barron's
Saudi Aramco restored output within weeks by drawing on inventory buffers and rerouting crude from other facilities, which is why prices fell back quickly.
From Barron's
My exposure to this all stems from being around salespeople who were not competent and didn’t have a clue in how to sell, so they fell back on trite sayings.
Gran rose up from her chair, then staggered and fell back.
From Literature
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.
