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[fall guy]{n.}, {slang} The "patsy" in an illegal transaction; a sucker; a dupe; the person who takes the punishment others deserve. •/When the Savings and Loan Bank failed, due to embezzlement, the vice president had to be the fall guy, saving the necks of the owners./

[fall in]{v.} 1. To go and stand properly in a row like soldiers. •/The captain told his men to fall in./ Contrast: FALL OUT(3). 2. to collapse. •/The explosion caused the walls of the house to fall in./

[fall in for]{v.} To receive; get. •/The boy fell in for some sympathy when he broke his leg./ •/The team manager fell in for most of the blame when his team lost the playoffs./

[falling-out]{n.} Argument; disagreement; quarrel. •/Mary and Jane had a falling-out about who owned the book./ •/The boys had a falling-out when each said that the other had broken the rules./

[fall in line] or [fall into line] See: IN LINE, INTO LINE.

[fall in love] See: IN LOVE.

[fall in] or [into place]{v. phr.} To suddenly make sense; find the natural or proper place for the missing pieces of a puzzle. •/When the detectives realized that a second man was seen at the place of the murder, the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place./

[fall in with]{v.}, {informal} 1. To meet by accident. •/Mary fell in with some of her friends downtown./ 2. To agree to help with; support. •/I fell in with Jack’s plan to play a trick on his father./ 3. To become associated with a group detrimental to the newcomer. •/John fell in with a wild bunch; small wonder he flunked all of his courses./ Compare: PLAY ALONG.

[fall into the habit of]{v. phr.} To develop the custom of doing something. •/Jack has fallen into the bad habit of playing poker for large sums of money every night./

[fall off] See: DROP OFF(4).

[fall off the wagon]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {alcoholism and drug culture} To return to the consumption of an addictive, such as alcohol or drugs, after a period of abstinence. •/Poor Joe has fallen off the wagon again — he is completely incoherent today./

[fall on] or [fall upon]{v.} 1. To go and fight with; attack. •/The robbers fell on him from behind trees./ 2. {formal} To meet (troubles). •/The famous poet fell upon unhappy days./

[fallout]{n.} 1. Result of nuclear explosion; harmful radioactive particles. •/Some experts consider fallout as dangerous as the bomb itself./ 2. Undesirable aftereffects in general. •/As a fallout of Watergate, many people lost their faith in the government./

[fall out]{v.} 1. To happen. •/As it fell out, the Harpers were able to sell their old car./ Compare: TURN OUT(6). 2. To quarrel; fight; fuss; disagree. •/The thieves fell out over the division of the loot./ 3. To leave a military formation. •/You men are dismissed. Fall out!/ Contrast: FALL IN. 4. To leave a building to go and line up. •/The soldiers fell out of the barracks for inspection./

[fall over backwards] or [fall over oneself]{v. phr.} To do everything you can to please someone; try very hard to satisfy someone. •/The hotel manager fell over backwards to give the movie star everything she wanted./ •/The boys fell over themselves trying to get the new girl’s attention./

[fall over yourself] See: FALL OVER BACKWARDS.

[fall short]{v.} To fail to reach (some aim); not succeed. •/His jump fell three inches short of the world record./ •/The movie fell short of expectations./ Contrast: MEASURE UP.

[fall through]{v.}, {informal} To fail; be ruined; not happen or be done. •/Jim’s plans to go to college fell through at the last moment./ •/Mr. Jones' deal to sell his house fell through./ Contrast: COME OFF.

[fall to]{v.} 1. To begin to work. •/The boys fell to and quickly cut the grass./ Syn.: TURN TO. 2. To begin to fight. •/They took out their swords and fell to./ 3. To begin to eat. •/The hungry boys fell to before everyone sat down./ 4. Begin; start. •/The old friends met and fell to talking about their school days./

[fall to pieces]{v. phr.} To disintegrate; collapse. •/After the death of Alexander the Great, his empire started to fall to pieces./

[fall wide of the mark] See: WIDE OF THE MARK.

[false] See: PLAY ONE FALSE, SAIL UNDER FALSE COLORS.

[family] See: RUN IN THE BLOOD or RUN IN THE FAMILY, IN A FAMILY WAY.

[family tree]{n.} Ancestry. •/My family tree can be traced back to the sixteenth century./

[famine] See: FEAST OR A FAMINE.

[fancy doing something] — An expression of surprise. •/Fancy meeting you here in such an unexpected place!/

[fancy pants]{n.}, {slang} A man or boy who wears clothes that are too nice or acts like a woman or girl; sissy. •/The first time they saw him in his new band uniform, they yelled "Hey, fancy pants, what are you doing in your sister’s slacks?"/

[fan] See: HIT THE FAN.

[fan out]{v. phr.} To spread in several directions. •/The main road fans out at the edge of the forest in four different directions./

[fan the breeze]{v. phr.} 1. See: SHOOT THE BREEZE. 2. To swing and miss the ball in baseball. •/The batter tried to hit a home run but he fanned the breeze./

[far] See: AS FAR AS or SO FAR AS, SO FAR also THUS PAR, BY FAR, FEW AND FAR BETWEEN, SO PAR, SO GOOD.