fell
Other forms: felled; felling; fells
Something that has been felled has been brought down, like a tree that has been felled by a powerful storm.
The word fell wears many hats in addition to being the past tense of fall. As a noun, a fell can be a stitching on the hem of a piece of clothing like pants, or an animal skin that has the fur intact. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the character MacDuff is stricken when he learns that his family has been killed “in one fell swoop.” Here the adjective fell means "vicious and cruel."
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cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
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synonyms:
cut down, drop, strike down
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types:
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chop down
cut down
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poleax, poleaxe
fell with or as if with a poleax
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log, lumber
cut lumber, as in woods and forests
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cut
fell by sawing; hew
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type of:
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cut
separate with or as if with an instrument
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the act of felling something (as a tree)
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type of:
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kill, killing, putting to death
the act of terminating a life
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kill, killing, putting to death
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(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
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sew a seam by folding the edges
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type of:
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run up, sew, sew together, stitch
fasten by sewing; do needlework
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run up, sew, sew together, stitch
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seam made by turning under or folding together and stitching the seamed materials to avoid rough edges
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synonyms:
felled seam
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type of:
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seam
joint consisting of a line formed by joining two pieces
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seam
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pass away rapidly
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the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal)
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synonyms:
hide
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types:
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cowhide
the hide of a cow
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goatskin
the hide of a goat
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rawhide
untanned hide especially of cattle; cut in strips it is used for whips and ropes
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type of:
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animal skin
the outer covering of an animal
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cowhide
/fɛl/
/fɛl/
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Vocabulary lists containing fell
The British poet William Ernest Henley was in and out of hospitals because of a disease that led to amputations of his foot and leg. While recovering, he wrote "Invictus." On another continent, in another century, Nelson Mandela recited the poem to his fellow prisoners. Empower your own soul with these words. Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 7 Unit 3's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Tangerine, A stunning tale of escape, To an Athlete Dying Young, Biography of Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Landmarks of Nelson Mandela's Life, Invictus, Playing the Enemy, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
As you read Act 4 of William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Macbeth," learn this word list. Here are links to lists for texts in Grade 10's Collection 5: Why Read Shakespeare?, Macbeth, Act 1, Macbeth, Act 2, Macbeth, Act 3, Macbeth, Act 4, Macbeth, Act 5, Holinshed's Chronicles, The Macbeth Murder Mystery
Learn these words from Into Literature, Grade 10, Unit 3, Lessons 2–3.