fall behind

phrase

1

: to lag behind

The slower hikers fell behind the group.

2

: to be in arrears

He fell behind in his car payments.

Examples of fall behind in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That followed up the first half of the season opener that saw the Broncos fall behind 17-3 and trail Memphis 20-17 at the break before storming to a 38-20 victory. — Jim Keyser, Idaho Statesman, 20 Sep. 2026

The Celtics fell behind 17-0, briefly recovering with an onside kick before two late turnovers sealed the loss. — Lila Hempel-Edgers, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026

Success will be measured by whether students who have fallen behind actually catch up, not by raising scores overall, the spokesperson said. — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2026

Johnson and the Jackrabbits struck first with a 4-yard rush in the first quarter, but allowed two straight scoring drives by Youngstown to fall behind 10-7. — ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1652, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for fall behind

• countersigned
• disinclined
• humankind
• interlined
• intertwined
• mastermind
• misaligned
• nonaligned
• predefined
• realigned
• reassigned
• recombined