fall apart

phrase

1

: disintegrate

The pie was falling apart as I served it.

2

: to succumb to mental or emotional stress : break down

She began to fall apart when her son was imprisoned.

Examples of fall apart in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But like the building’s chipping paint and 100-year-old clapboards, that historic relationship is falling apart. — Rachel Siegel, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026

In deep money trouble with local mob boss Abu Rabih (Haytham Chamass), Hamza is all bristly nerves, always a hair’s breadth from falling apart, and, for the other characters and the audience alike, perhaps the riskiest element of the scheme. — Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2026

The operational complexity of keeping all of those synchronized under bursty agent loads is where production deployments quietly fall apart. — Gopi Duddi, Forbes.com, 4 Sep. 2026

Olsen certainly hurt those around him, too, growing up, especially as his addiction spiraled and his platonic, romantic and familial relationships fell apart. — David Oliver, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1761, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for fall apart

• counterpart
• art
• cart
• carte
• chart
• dart
• fart
• haart
• mart
• part
• smart
• start