Fell

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fÉ›l/
• Rhymes: -É›l

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-Germanic *fallijaną ("to fell, to cause to fall"), causative of Proto-Germanic *fallaną ("to fall"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pōl- ("to fall"). Cognate with Dutch vellen ("to fell, cut down"), German fällen ("to fell"), Norwegian felle ("to fell").

Full definition of fell

Verb

1. (transitive) To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.
• ShakespeareStand, or I'll fell thee down.
• 2011, October 2, Aled Williams, Swansea 2 - 0 Stoke, Sinclair opened Swansea's account from the spot on 8 minutes after a Ryan Shawcross tackle had felled Wayne Routledge.
2. to strike down, kill, destroy
• 1922 , Edgar Rice Burroughs , The Chessmen of Mars Chapter , 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.
• , 2010-09-27, Christina Passariello, Prodos Capital, Samsung Make Final Cut for Ferré, … could make Ferré the first major fashion label felled by the economic crisis to come out the other end of restructuring.

Verb

1. fell

   (simple past of fall)

Middle English fell ("hide, skin, fell"), from Old English fell ("hide, skin, pelt"), from Proto-Germanic *fellą (compare West Frisian fel, Dutch, vel, German Fell), from Proto-Indo-European *pélno 'skin, animal hide' (compare Latin pellis 'skin', Lithuanian plėnė 'skin', Russian plená 'pelt', Albanian plah 'to cover', Ancient Greek péllas 'skin').

Noun

1. That portion of a kilt, from the waist to the seat, where the pleats are stitched down
2. An animal skin, hide
• ShakespeareWe are still handling our ewes, and their fells, you know, are greasy.
3. (textiles) The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft.

Verb

1. (sewing) To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat.
• 2006, Colette Wolff, The Art of Manipulating Fabric, p. 296To 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.

From Old Norse fell, fjall ("rock, mountain"), from Proto-Germanic *felzą, *fel(e)zaz, *falisaz (compare German Felsen 'boulder, cliff', Middle Low German vels 'hill, mountain'), from Proto-Indo-European *pelso (compare Irish aile 'boulder, cliff', Latin Palatium, Ancient Greek palléa, pélla 'stone', Pashto parša 'id.', Sanskrit pāşāņá 'id.')

Noun

1. (archaic except UK) A rocky ridge or chain of mountains.
• 1937 J.R.R. Tolkien, The HobbitThe dwarves of yore made mighty spells,While hammers fell like ringing bells,In places deep, where dark things sleep,In hollow halls beneath the fells.
• 1886, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, The Squire of Sandal-Side : A Pastoral Romance, 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.
2. (archaic except UK) A wild field or upland moor

From Middle English fel, fell ("strong, fierce, terrible, cruel, angry"), from Old English *fel, *felo, *fæle ("cruel, savage, fierce") (only in compounds, wælfel, ealfelu, ælfæle, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *faluz ("wicked, cruel, terrifying"), from Proto-Indo-European *pol- ("to pour, flow, swim, fly"). Cognate with Old Frisian fal ("cruel"), Old Dutch fel ("wrathful, cruel, bad, base"), Danish fæl ("disgusting, hideous, ghastly, grim"), Middle High German vālant ("imp"). See felon.

Adjective

1. Of a strong and cruel nature; eagre and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage.
   one fell swoop
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)While we devise fell tortures for thy faults.
• 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1,And many a serpent of fell kind,
  With wings before, and stings behind
• 1892, James Yoxall, The Lonely Pyramid Chapter 5, The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.
• Wodehouse Offing|XIX|No words had been exchanged between Upjohn and self on the journey out, but the glimpses I had caught of his face from the corner of the eyes had told me that he was grim and resolute, his supply of the milk of human kindness plainly short by several gallons. No hope, it seemed to me, of turning him from his fell purpose.
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent; clever.
3. (obsolete) Eager; earnest; intent.
• Samuel Pepys (1633-1703)I am so fell to my business.

Adverb

1. Sharply; fiercely.

Derived terms

• fellness

Noun

1. Gall; anger; melancholy.
• SpenserUntroubled of vile fear or bitter fell.
• XIX c., Gerard Manley Hopkins, I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day.

Noun