fallaway

1 of 2

adjective

fall·​away ˈfȯl-ə-ˌwā How to pronounce fallaway (audio)
: made while moving away from the basket in basketball
a fallaway jump shot
fallaway noun

fall away

2 of 2

verb

fell away; fallen away; falling away; falls away

intransitive verb

1
a
: to withdraw friendship or support
b
: to renounce one's faith
2
a
: to diminish gradually in size
b
: to drift off a course

Examples of fallaway in a Sentence

Verb as the years went by, the public's interest in the murder case fell away
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
His fallaway, one-legged jumper at 6-11 is impossible to defend. Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 May 2023 And from the driver's seat, the thing looks racy, sporting a short, fallaway hood and sweeping lines (accentuated in the CRX by the roof tapering down behind your head to an impertinent little ducktail). Kevin Smith, Car and Driver, 4 Mar. 2023 In the teams’ first meeting this season, Mahaney nailed a fallaway jumper with less than a second remaining to give the Gaels a 57-56 thriller in Provo. Steve Kroner, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Feb. 2023 Chamberlain scored on fallaway jump shots, finger-rolls, and dunks. Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Mar. 2022 James and Davis made 3-pointers and fallaway jumpers. Bernie Wilson, ajc, 20 Oct. 2021
Verb
The booster exploded moments after falling away, followed shortly by Starship. Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024 But many of those demands appeared to begin falling away late Tuesday as negotiators zeroed in on a stopgap deal. Marianna Sotomayor, Washington Post, 28 Feb. 2024 Less than a minute before touchdown, one of the engines suddenly lost thrust, and moments later, a down-facing navigation camera caught a glimpse of what appeared to be one of the engine nozzles falling away from the spacecraft. Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2024 As these conservative hinterland Turks began to enter the middle class and climb up the ladder of political power, the European identity that Ataturk grafted onto the nation became thinner with each passing decade, eventually falling away. Soner Cagaptay, Foreign Affairs, 19 Feb. 2024 The front end of a one-and-one fell away, and Utah immediately pushed the ball down the court with a chance to tie, the very worst of outcomes flying through Coach Andy Enfield’s head in this Twilight Zone of a season. Luca Evans, Orange County Register, 16 Feb. 2024 Worse, one of those wins falls away when those fighters compete against younger foes. Trent Reinsmith, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024 The planks that rested on top of the support fell away, and Osorio fell through the catwalk. Gene Maddaus, Variety, 15 Feb. 2024 Instead of falling away—as Neistat’s window had—the windows seemed to stay put. Kyle Barr / Gizmodo, Quartz, 6 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fallaway.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1936, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1535, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of fallaway was in 1535

Dictionary Entries Near fallaway

Cite this Entry

“Fallaway.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallaway. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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