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fall through — to fail to happen or be completed; to fail to materialize as planned

Part of speech: VERB

Definition: to fail to happen or be completed; to fail to materialize as planned

Pronunciation (IPA): /fɔːl θruː/

Example Sentences

  • My vacation plans fell through when I got the flu.
  • The wedding fell through because the groom ran away with the wedding planner.
  • Our house purchase fell through due to financing issues.

fall through

VERB

[/fɔːl θruː/]

to fail to happen or be completed; to fail to materialize as planned

to fail to happen or be completed; to fail to materialize as planned
💡 Concept

to fail to happen or be completed; to fail to materialize as planned

The crew's dreams fall through as hopes flew
🎵 Rhyme

The crew's dreams fall through as hopes flew

Got the picture? Now let's practice.

🎤Pronunciation

🇺🇸 US/fɔːl θruː/
🇬🇧 UK/fɔːl θruː/

🌳Etymology

Rootfall through

Origin

This phrasal verb combines 'fall' (from Old English 'feallan', meaning to drop or descend) and 'through' (from Old English 'thurh', meaning to pass via or across). The expression evolved from the literal image of something falling through a gap or opening to the figurative sense of a plan or arrangement collapsing or failing to materialize.

Breakdown

fall (to drop, descend) + through (to pass via, across) = to slip away, fail to be completed. The morphological combination creates the sense of something falling through a gap, metaphorically representing the failure or abandonment of a plan or agreement.

🎵Rhyme

crew
flew
grew
knew

🔗Collocations

deal falls through
plans fall through
negotiations fall through
arrangement falls through
project falls through

📝Examples

“My vacation plans fell through when I got the flu.”

😄 Fun example

“The wedding fell through because the groom ran away with the wedding planner.”

“Our house purchase fell through due to financing issues.”

😄 Fun example

“The business partnership fell through when they discovered he was secretly a circus performer.”

📚Related Words

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