What does "fell" mean?
A cutting-down of timber.
Fell
/fɛl/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A cutting-down of timber.
- Grammar: fell is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: align, alkali flat, alluvial plain, animal.
- Useful contrasts: ascend, awaken, climb.
- Usage evidence: Your glasses fell on the floor.
How to use "fell"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "fell" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "fell" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "fell" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "fell" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "fell" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "align" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A cutting-down of timber.
- 2 An animal skin, hide, pelt.
"Why, we are still handling our ewes, and their fells, you know, are greasy."
- 3 High and barren landscape feature such as a mountain range or mountain terrain above the tree line.
- 4 Anger; gall; melancholy. obsolete, rare, uncountable
"Untroubled of vile fear or bitter fell."
- 5 The finer portions of ore, which go through the meshes when the ore is sorted by sifting.
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 Ellipsis of Fell pony. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
"Fells are usually pure black with no white markings, but bay, gray, and brown are also possible."
- 7 the act of felling something (as a tree) wordnet
- 8 The stitching down of a fold of cloth; specifically, the portion of a kilt, from the waist to the seat, where the pleats are stitched down.
- 9 Human skin (now only as a metaphorical use of previous sense).
"For he is fader of feith · fourmed ȝow alle / Bothe with fel and with face."
- 10 A rocky ridge or chain of mountains, particularly in the British Isles or Fennoscandia. Scotland
"Every now and then the sea calls some farmer or shepherd, and the restless drop in his veins gives him no peace till he has found his way over the hills and fells to the port of Whitehaven, and gone back to the cradling bosom that rocked his ancestors."
- 11 Ellipsis of Fell mountain railway system, named after John Barraclough Fell. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, uncountable
"This line [the Snaefell Mountain Railway] is the world's only example of an electrically-operated railway with a Fell central rail."
- 12 seam made by turning under or folding together and stitching the seamed materials to avoid rough edges wordnet
- 13 The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft.
- 14 A wild field or upland moor. Scotland
"As over Holt and Heath, as thorough Frith and Fell;"
- 15 the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal) wordnet
Verb
- 1 To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree. transitive
"Stand, or I'll fell thee down."
- 2 simple past of fall form-of, past
- 3 cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow wordnet
- 4 To strike down, kill, destroy. transitive
"Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head topple from its body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. ... The creature that had felled its companion was dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was hidden, it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. … Then it was that Gahan's eyes chanced to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive had felled."
- 5 past participle of fall colloquial, form-of, participle, past
"For I have heard that my Enemies have fell into that ſnare which they laid for mee. They which would have taken away my life have loſt their own;[…]"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 sew a seam by folding the edges wordnet
- 7 To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat.
"To fell seam allowances, catch the lining underneath before emerging 1/4" (6mm) ahead, and 1/8" (3mm) to 1/4" (6mm) into the seam allowance."
- 8 pass away rapidly wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Of a strong and cruel nature; eager and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage.
"one fell swoop"
- 2 Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent Scotland, UK, dialectal
- 3 Very large; huge. Scotland, UK, dialectal
- 4 Eager; earnest; intent. obsolete
"I am so fell to my business."
Adjective
- 1 (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering wordnet
Adverb
- 1 Sharply; fiercely.
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A township in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States.
- 3 A municipality in Trier-Saarland district, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Your glasses fell on the floor."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "fell"?
Common synonyms include: align, alkali flat, alluvial plain, animal, anthill, anthropophagous.
How do you use "fell" in a sentence?
Your glasses fell on the floor.
How do you pronounce "fell"?
Pronounced /fɛl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English fellen, from Old English fellan, fiellan (“to cause to fall, strike down, fell, cut down, throw down, defeat, destroy, kill, tumble, cause to stumble”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallijan, from Proto-Germanic *fallijaną (“to fell, to cause to fall”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂peh₃lH-. Cognate with Dutch vellen (“to fell, cut down”), German fällen (“to fell”), Danish fælde (“to fell”), Norwegian felle (“to fell”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English fell, fel, vel, from Old English fel, fell (“hide, skin, pelt”), from Proto-West Germanic *fell, from Proto-Germanic *fellą, from Proto-Indo-European *pél-no- (“skin, animal hide”). See also West Frisian fel, Dutch vel, German Fell, Latin pellis (“skin”), Lithuanian plėnė (“skin”), Russian плена́ (plená, “pelt”), Albanian plah (“to cover”), Ancient Greek πέλλᾱς (péllās, “skin”). Related to film, felt, pell, and pelt.
Etymology 3
From Middle English fell, felle, from Old Norse fell (fjall, fiæl, “mountain range or mountain terrain above the tree line”), from Proto-Germanic *felzą, *fel(e)zaz, *falisaz (compare German Felsen 'boulder, cliff', Middle Low German vels 'hill, mountain'), from Proto-Indo-European *pels-; compare Irish aill (“boulder, cliff”), Ancient Greek πέλλα (pélla, “stone”), Pashto پرښه (parṣ̌a, “rock, rocky ledge”), Sanskrit पाषाण (pāṣāṇa, “stone”). Doublet of fjeld. Cognates includes: Danish fjeld (fjæld), Faroese fjall (fjøll), Icelandic fjall (fell), Norwegian fjell (fjøll, fjødd, fjedd, fjedl, fjill, fill, fil, fel), Swedish fjäll (Old Swedish fiæl).
Etymology 4
From Middle English fel, fell (“strong, fierce, terrible, cruel, angry”), either from Old French fel or from Old English *fel, *felo, *fæle (“cruel, savage, fierce”) (only in compounds, wælfel (“bloodthirsty”), ealfelo (“evil, baleful”), ælfæle (“very dire”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *fali, *falu, from Proto-Germanic *faluz (“wicked, cruel, terrifying”). Cognate with Old Frisian fal (“cruel”), Middle Dutch fel (“wrathful, cruel, bad, base”), German Low German fell (“rash, swift”), Danish fæl (“disgusting, hideous, ghastly, grim”). Compare also Middle High German vālant (“imp”) and Dutch fel (“fierce, feisty, bitter”). See felon.
Etymology 5
Perhaps from Latin fel (“gall, poison, bitterness”), or more probably from the adjective above.
Etymology 6
* As an English surname, from the noun fell (“crag, rocky highland”). * As an English, Jewish, and German surname, from Fell (“pelt, fur”) or its Yiddish equivalent. Compare Pilcher.