15. Lapse or declension from innocence or goodness. Specifically: The
first apostasy; the act of our first parents in eating the forbidden
fruit; also, the apostasy of the rebellious angels.
16. Formerly, a kind of ruff or band for the neck; a falling band; a
faule. B. Jonson.
17. That part (as one of the ropes) of a tackle to which the power is
applied in hoisting.
Fall herring (Zoˆl.), a herring of the Atlantic (Clupea mediocris); --
also called tailor herring, and hickory shad. -- To try a fall, to try
a bout at wrestling. Shak.
Fal*la"cious (?), a. [L. fallaciosus, fr. fallacia: cf. F. fallacieux.
See Fallacy.] Embodying or pertaining to a fallacy; illogical; fitted
to deceive; misleading; delusive; as, fallacious arguments or
reasoning. -- Fal*la"cious*ly, adv. - Fal*la"cious*ness, n.
<! p. 540 !>
Fal"la*cy (fl"l*s), n.; pl. Fallacies (- sz). [OE. fallace, fallas,
deception, F. fallace, fr. L. fallacia, fr. fallax deceitful,
deceptive, fr. fallere to deceive. See Fail.] 1. Deceptive or false
appearance; deceitfulness; that which misleads the eye or the mind;
deception.
Winning by conquest what the first man lost, By fallacy surprised.
Milton.
2. (Logic) An argument, or apparent argument, which professes to be
decisive of the matter at issue, while in reality it is not; a sophism.
Syn. -- Deception; deceit; mistake. -- Fallacy, Sophistry. A fallacy is
an argument which professes to be decisive, but in reality is not;
sophistry is also false reasoning, but of so specious and subtle a kind
as to render it difficult to expose its fallacy. Many fallacies are
obvious, but the evil of sophistry lies in its consummate art. "Men are
apt to suffer their minds to be misled by fallacies which gratify their
passions. Many persons have obscured and confounded the nature of
things by their wretched sophistry; though an act be never so sinful,
they will strip it of its guilt." South.
Fal"-lals` (?), n. pl. Gay ornaments; frippery; gewgaws. [Colloq.]
Thackeray.
Fal"lax (?), n. [L. fallax deceptive. See Fallacy.] Cavillation; a
caviling. [Obs.] Cranmer.
Fall"en (?), a. Dropped; prostrate; degraded; ruined; decreased; dead.
Some ruined temple or fallen monument.
Rogers.
Fal"len*cy (?), n. [LL. fallentia, L. fallens p. pr of fallere.] An
exception. [Obs.] Jer. Taylor.
Fall"er (?), n. 1. One who, or that which, falls.
2. (Mach.) A part which acts by falling, as a stamp in a fulling mill,
or the device in a spinning machine to arrest motion when a thread
breaks.
Fall"fish` (?), n. (Zoˆl.) A fresh-water fish of the United States
(Semotilus bullaris); -- called also silver chub, and Shiner. The name
is also applied to other allied species.
Fal`li*bil"i*ty (?), n. The state of being fallible; liability to
deceive or to be deceived; as, the fallibity of an argument or of an
adviser.
Fal"li*ble (?), a. [LL. fallibilis, fr. L. fallere to deceive: cf. F.
faillible. See Fail.] Liable to fail, mistake, or err; liable to
deceive or to be deceived; as, all men are fallible; our opinions and
hopes are fallible.
Fal"li*bly, adv. In a fallible manner.
Fall"ing (?), a. & n. from Fall, v. i.
Falling away, Falling off, etc. See To fall away, To fall off, etc.,
under Fall, v. i. -- Falling band, the plain, broad, linen collar
turning down over the doublet, worn in the early part of the 17th
century. -- Falling sickness (Med.), epilepsy. Shak. -- Falling star.
(Astron.) See Shooting star. -- Falling stone, a stone falling through
the atmosphere; a meteorite; an aÎrolite. -- Falling tide, the ebb
tide. -- Falling weather, a rainy season. [Colloq.] Bartlett.
Fal*lo"pi*an (?), a. [From Fallopius, or Fallopio, a physician of
Modena, who died in 1562.] (Anat.) Pertaining to, or discovered by,
Fallopius; as, the Fallopian tubes or oviducts, the ducts or canals
which conduct the ova from the ovaries to the uterus.
Fal"low (?), a. [AS. fealu, fealo, pale yellow or red; akin to D. vaal
fallow, faded, OHG. falo, G. falb, fahl, Icel. fˆlr, and prob. to Lith.
palvas, OSlav. plav white, L. pallidus pale, pallere to be pale, Gr.
polio`s gray, Skr. palita. Cf. Pale, Favel, a., Favor.] 1. Pale red or
pale yellow; as, a fallow deer or greyhound. Shak.
2. [Cf. Fallow, n.] Left untilled or unsowed after plowing;
uncultivated; as, fallow ground.
Fallow chat, Fallow finch (Zoˆl.), a small European bird, the wheatear
(Saxicola únanthe). See Wheatear.
Fal"low, n. [So called from the fallow, or somewhat yellow, color of
naked ground; or perh. akin to E. felly, n., cf. MHG. valgen to plow
up, OHG. felga felly, harrow.] 1. Plowed land. [Obs.]
Who . . . pricketh his blind horse over the fallows.
Chaucer.
2. Land that has lain a year or more untilled or unseeded; land plowed
without being sowed for the season.
The plowing of fallows is a benefit to land.
Mortimer.
3. The plowing or tilling of land, without sowing it for a season; as,
summer fallow, properly conducted, has ever been found a sure method of
destroying weeds.
Be a complete summer fallow, land is rendered tender and mellow.
The fallow gives it a better tilth than can be given by a fallow
crop.
Sinclair.
Fallow crop, the crop taken from a green fallow. [Eng.] -- Green
fallow, fallow whereby land is rendered mellow and clean from weeds, by
cultivating some green crop, as turnips, potatoes, etc. [Eng.]
Fal"low (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fallowed (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Fallowing.] [From Fallow, n.] To plow, harrow, and break up, as land,
without seeding, for the purpose of destroying weeds and insects, and
rendering it mellow; as, it is profitable to fallow cold, strong,
clayey land.
Fal"low deer` (?). [So called from its fallow or pale yellow color.]
(Zoˆl.) A European species of deer (Cervus dama), much smaller than the
red deer. In summer both sexes are spotted with white. It is common in
England, where it is often domesticated in the parks.
Fal"low*ist (?), n. One who favors the practice of fallowing land. [R.]
Sinclair.
Fal"low*ness, n. A well or opening, through the successive floors of a
warehouse or manufactory, through which goods are raised or lowered.
[U.S.] Bartlett.
Fal"sa*ry (?), n. [L. falsarius, fr. falsus. See False, a.] A falsifier
of evidence. [Obs.] Sheldon.
False (?), a. [Compar. Falser (?); superl. Falsest.] [L. falsus, p. p.
of fallere to deceive; cf. OF. faus, fals, F. faux, and AS. fals fraud.
See Fail, Fall.] 1. Uttering falsehood; unveracious; given to deceit;
dishnest; as, a false witness.
2. Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance, vows, etc.;
untrue; treacherous; perfidious; as, a false friend, lover, or subject;
false to promises.