fall through

idiom phrasal verb

The phrase "fall through" is often used to describe situations where plans or efforts do not succeed or materialize as expected.

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Definition

B2General

(idiomatic)To fail to happen or be completed as planned.

Example

Our vacation plans fell through because of the unexpected storm.
The deal fell through at the last minute.

B2General

To pass through a surface or an opening, usually by accident.

Example

The cat fell through the hole in the roof.
Be careful not to fall through the broken floorboards.

C1Programming

(technical)To reach the end of a switch or case statement without matching any of the specified cases, often leading to a default action.

Example

If none of the conditions are met, the program will fall through to the default case.

Similar

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "fall through":

fall to fall together fall into fall out fall down fall due fall off fall away slip through fall on fall in fall up fall down on fall to the ground fall behind fall back fall apart drop behind fall for fall over drop into fall to pieces flake out fall foul falling out go under fall upon come a cropper drop the ball take the fall drop in go down fizzle out flunk out fall flat on one's face fall into oneself take a tumble drop off come through fall off one's perch drop out fall from grace follow through fall between two stools drop back pass through come down drop down take a dive crack through bomb out blow through fade away slip off fruit fall let down sink like a stone slide off bottom out falling together fall in with fall into a trap suck under wet through go belly-up go by the board crash out crap out come apart shoot through fail at life go through slip out slip in hang off pass out come under come down to run down die on the vine slip away pan out let slide lose out cave in down the drain