Definition of
Fell
- (noun, act) the act of felling something (as a tree)
- (noun, artifact) seam made by turning under or folding together and stitching the seamed materials to avoid rough edges
- (noun, substance) the dressed skin of an animal (especially a large animal)
- (verb, contact) cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
Lightning struck down the hikers - (verb, contact) sew a seam by folding the edges
- (verb, motion) pass away rapidly
Time fleeing beneath him - (adj, all) (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
brutal beatings
cruel tortures
Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks
a savage slap
vicious kicks
via WordNet, Princeton University
Synonyms of Fell
barbarous, brutal, cruel, cut down, drop, felled seam, fly, hide, roughshod, savage, strike down, vanish, vicious
Alternate forms of Fell
Hyponyms: chop down, cowhide, cut, goatskin, log, lumber, poleax, poleaxe, rawhide
Hypernyms: animal skin, cut, elapse, glide by, go along, go by, kill, killing, lapse, pass, putting to death, run up, seam, sew, sew together, slide by, slip away, slip by, stitch
Origin of the word Fell
- O.E. f?llan, (Mercian) fyllan (W.Saxon) "make fall," also "demolish, kill," from P.Gmc. *fallijanan (cf. O.N. fella, Du. fellen, O.H.G. fellan), causative of *fallan (O.E. feallan, see fall (v.)), showing i-mutation. Related: Felled; feller; felling. more
- late 13c., from O.Fr. fel "cruel, fierce," from M.L. fello "villain" (see felon). Phrase at one fell swoop is from "Macbeth." more
via Online Etymology Dictionary, ©2001 Douglas Harper