1
as in to down
to strike (someone) so forcefully as to cause a fall
a champion boxer who was shockingly felled in the first round
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2
as in to mow
to bring down by cutting
the settlers began the daunting task of felling the mighty trees that blanketed the island
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3
as in to kill
to deprive of life
the quest for a cure for malaria, the disease that felled so many during the digging of the Panama Canal
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in lethal
likely to cause or capable of causing death
planning for the distribution of resources in case of some fell event
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2
as in savage
violently unfriendly or aggressive in disposition
a once-mighty nation conquered by a fell and barbarous enemy
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of fell
Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2024
Complete decommissioning can include felling or dismantling the turbines, partially or wholly removing the turbine foundations and underground cables, removing the ground-level facilities, and restoring the land to a usable state.
—Ariel Cohen, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024
Will Porter, Architectural Digest, 2 Dec. 2024
Wet it with water, run it over your face, and be amazed at how your mascara, smoky eyeshadow, and eyebrows disappear in one fell swoop.
—Louryn Strampe, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fell 
Verb
The latest iteration of the project calls for felling 108 trees rooted along Greenleaf Avenue, between Wardman and Hadley streets, and planting 118 smaller trees in the area.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 23 Dec. 2024
Complete decommissioning can include felling or dismantling the turbines, partially or wholly removing the turbine foundations and underground cables, removing the ground-level facilities, and restoring the land to a usable state.
—Ariel Cohen, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024
Adjective
Finding top-quality All-Clad cookware on sale is a rarity, so take advantage of this chance to upgrade everything in one fell swoop.
—Will Porter, Architectural Digest, 2 Dec. 2024
Wet it with water, run it over your face, and be amazed at how your mascara, smoky eyeshadow, and eyebrows disappear in one fell swoop.
—Louryn Strampe, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fell
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fell
Verb
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Severe weather conditions may also cause power outages and downed trees.Martha McHardy, Newsweek, 7 Jan. 2025
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Denver jumped to an early two-touchdown lead and downed Kansas City 38-0 at Empower Field at Mile High.Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 6 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Two easy ways to ensure the grass is mowed properly is, according to Cannon, to know the turf type and how much to mow and use a sharp mower blade to avoid tears or rips, which are basically open wounds on the plant.Lauren David, Southern Living, 27 Dec. 2024
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Two weeks later, on June 16, Jelly Roll excitedly called Ray with a proposition as the Nashville area native, songwriter and construction company owner was on his tractor mowing the grass on his 30-acre property in Dickson, Tennessee, an hour west of Music City.Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 19 Nov. 2024
Verb
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In 2020, a woman was sentenced to 51 years to life in state prison for a DUI crash that killed three Las Vegas teenagers and seriously injured a fourth in Huntington Beach two years earlier.Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2024
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Hamlet, famously, vows revenge on his uncle, Claudius, for the murder of his father—but then he dithers, delays, and generally goes crazy, only killing Claudius at the very end of Shakespeare’s longest play.Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 31 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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This physiological feat enables them to withstand conditions lethal to other fish.Scott Travers, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025
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The state is looking to carry out death sentences for several inmates who are out of appeals but who had their executions delayed because prison officials could not obtain lethal injection drugs.Landon Mion, Fox News, 5 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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As savage Arctic cold was getting ready to surge south across North America, vivid imagery based on data from weather models showed us what was going to happen.Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 27 Dec. 2022
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The 2023 grand marshal is former Arizona Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords, gravely wounded in a savage mass shooting in 2011 that also killed six people.Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Dec. 2022
Verb
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The show's first official trailer dropped on January 2, which the duchess posted to her own, new Instagram account with a personal message.Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 2 Jan. 2025
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Egg production in the U.S. dropped 4% in November as the price of eggs and cases of bird flu continue to rise across the country, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), as FOX Business reported this week.Christine Rousselle, Fox News, 2 Jan. 2025
Verb
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To its credit, Doc is more adept at crafting moral dilemmas that force its characters to reckon with the cost of saving one child at the expense of another’s health, or a patient’s right to know a secret that could destroy his family.Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Jan. 2025
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In 2023, nearly 40 were introduced to the council — from calling on the state legislature to let Louisville destroy confiscated firearms to requesting the city's Planning Commission review the Land Development Code.Eleanor McCrary, The Courier-Journal, 1 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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In August, the main global body analyzing food crises, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification's Famine Review Committee (FRC), warned that mass famine in Sudan fueled by the conflict could be on track to become the deadliest famine in over a decade.Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 8 Jan. 2025
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The series takes place in the 20-year aftermath of a deadly outbreak of mutant fungus (Cordyceps) that turns humans into monstrous zombie-like creatures (the Infected, or Clickers).Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 7 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near fell
Cite this Entry
“Fell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fell. Accessed 14 Jan. 2025.
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