DOWNFALL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does downfall mean? 

• DOWNFALL (noun)
  The noun DOWNFALL has 3 senses:

1. failure that results in a loss of position or reputation

2. the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist)

3. a sudden decline in strength or number or importance

  Familiarity information: DOWNFALL used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DOWNFALL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Failure that results in a loss of position or reputation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

downfall; ruin; ruination

Hypernyms ("downfall" is a kind of...):

failure (an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "downfall"):

finish (the downfall of someone (as of persons on one side of a conflict))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

downfall; precipitation

Hypernyms ("downfall" is a kind of...):

atmospheric condition; conditions; weather; weather condition (the atmospheric conditions that comprise the state of the atmosphere in terms of temperature and wind and clouds and precipitation)

Meronyms (parts of "downfall"):

diamond dust; frost mist; frost snow; ice crystal; ice needle; poudrin; snow mist (small crystals of ice)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "downfall"):

fine spray (precipitation in very small drops)

hail (precipitation of ice pellets when there are strong rising air currents)

rain; rainfall (water falling in drops from vapor condensed in the atmosphere)

sleet (partially melted snow (or a mixture of rain and snow))

snow; snowfall (precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals)

virga (light wispy precipitation that evaporates before it reaches the ground (especially when the lower air is low in humidity))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A sudden decline in strength or number or importance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

downfall; fall

Context example:

the fall of the House of Hapsburg

Hypernyms ("downfall" is a kind of...):

weakening (becoming weaker)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "downfall"):

anticlimax (a disappointing decline after a previous rise)

 Context examples 

It was that foolish, irresistible Latin impulse to be dramatic which brought his own downfall.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then came the downfall of the tyrant.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It would be the downfall of my house.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"I don't complain near as much as the others do, and I shall be more careful than ever now, for I've had warning from Susie's downfall," said Amy morally.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Now, the researchers analysed the different isotopes of water trapped within the crystal structure of the gypsum to determine changes in rainfall and relative humidity during the Maya downfall.

(Scientists measure severity of drought during the Maya collapse, University of Cambridge)

What with your eternal tobacco, Watson, and your irregularity at meals, I expect that you will get notice to quit, and that I shall share your downfall—not, however, before we have solved the problem of the nervous tutor, the careless servant, and the three enterprising students.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mr. W. being infirm, and it being within the bounds of probability that his decease might lead to some discoveries, and to the downfall of—HEEP'S—power over the W. family,—as I, Wilkins Micawber, the undersigned, assume—unless the filial affection of his daughter could be secretly influenced from allowing any investigation of the partnership affairs to be ever made, the said—HEEP—deemed it expedient to have a bond ready by him, as from Mr. W., for the before-mentioned sum of twelve six fourteen, two and nine, with interest, stated therein to have been advanced by—HEEP—to Mr. W. to save Mr. W. from dishonour; though really the sum was never advanced by him, and has long been replaced.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He has been my ruin and my downfall.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Jo accepted it with a smile, for she had never outgrown her liking for lads, and soon found herself involved in the usual labyrinth of love, mystery, and murder, for the story belonged to that class of light literature in which the passions have a holiday, and when the author's invention fails, a grand catastrophe clears the stage of one half the dramatis personae, leaving the other half to exult over their downfall.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The severity of drought conditions during the demise of the Maya civilisation about one thousand years ago has been quantified, representing another piece of evidence that could be used to solve the longstanding mystery of what caused the downfall of one of the ancient world’s great civilisations.

(Scientists measure severity of drought during the Maya collapse, University of Cambridge)