fell

Etymology 1

From Middle English fellen, from Old English fellan, fiellan (“to cause to fall, strike down, fell, cut down, throw down, defeat, destroy, kill, tumble, cause to stumble”), from Proto-West Germanic *fallijan, from Proto-Germanic *fallijaną (“to fell, to cause to fall”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fallaną (“to fall”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂peh₃lH-. Cognate with Dutch vellen (“to fell, cut down”), German fällen (“to fell”), Danish fælde (“to fell”), Norwegian felle (“to fell”).

verb

1. (transitive) To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.
   Sinclair opened Swansea's account from the spot on 8 minutes after a Ryan Shawcross tackle had felled Wayne Routledge. October 2, 2011, Aled Williams, “Swansea 2 - 0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport Wales
   As southeast Asia's forests were felled, the rhino's habitat shrank and became fragmented. 2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Picador, page 219
2. (transitive) To strike down, kill, destroy.
   This Sunday marks the debut of Weiner, a documentary that follows former congressman Anthony Weiner in his attempt to overcome a sexting scandal and run for mayor of New York City—only to be felled, somewhat inexplicably, by another sexting scandal. January 17 2016, “What Weiner Reveals About Huma Abedin”, in Vanity Fair, retrieved 2016-01-21
   Gahan, horrified, saw the latter's head topple from its body, saw the body stagger and fall to the ground. ... The creature that had felled its companion was dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was hidden, it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it. … Then it was that Gahan's eyes chanced to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive had felled. 1922, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Chessmen of Mars, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2010
   … could make Ferré the first major fashion label felled by the economic crisis to come out the other end of restructuring. 2010-09-27, Christina Passariello, “Prodos Capital, Samsung Make Final Cut for Ferré”, in Wall Street Journal, retrieved 2012-08-26
3. (sewing) To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat.
   To fell seam allowances, catch the lining underneath before emerging 1/4" (6mm) ahead, and 1/8" (3mm) to 1/4" (6mm) into the seam allowance. 2006, Colette Wolff, The Art of Manipulating Fabric, page 296

noun

1. A cutting-down of timber.
2. The stitching down of a fold of cloth; specifically, the portion of a kilt, from the waist to the seat, where the pleats are stitched down.
3. (textiles) The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft.

Etymology 2

From Middle English fell, fel, vel, from Old English fel, fell (“hide, skin, pelt”), from Proto-West Germanic *fell, from Proto-Germanic *fellą, from Proto-Indo-European *pél-no- (“skin, animal hide”). See also West Frisian fel, Dutch vel, German Fell, Latin pellis (“skin”), Lithuanian plėnė (“skin”), Russian плена́ (plená, “pelt”), Albanian plah (“to cover”), Ancient Greek πέλλᾱς (péllās, “skin”). Related to film, felt, pell, and pelt.

noun

1. An animal skin, hide, pelt.
2. Human skin (now only as a metaphorical use of previous sense).
   For he is fader of feith · fourmed ȝow alle / Bothe with fel and with face. c. 1390, William Langland, Piers Plowman, section I

Etymology 3

From Middle English fell, felle (“hill, mountain”), from Old Norse fell, fjall (“rock, mountain”), compare Norwegian Bokmål fjell 'mountain', Danish fjeld 'mountain', from Proto-Germanic *felzą, *fel(e)zaz, *falisaz (compare German Felsen 'boulder, cliff', Middle Low German vels 'hill, mountain'), from Proto-Indo-European *pels-; compare Irish aill (“boulder, cliff”), Ancient Greek πέλλα (pélla, “stone”), Pashto پرښه (parṣ̌a, “rock, rocky ledge”), Sanskrit पाषाण (pāşāņá, “stone”). Doublet of fjeld.

noun

1. (archaic outside UK) A rocky ridge or chain of mountains.
   Every now and then the sea calls some farmer or shepherd, and the restless drop in his veins gives him no peace till he has found his way over the hills and fells to the port of Whitehaven, and gone back to the cradling bosom that rocked his ancestors. 1886, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, The Squire of Sandal-Side : A Pastoral Romance
   The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, / While hammers fell like ringing bells, / In places deep, where dark things sleep, / In hollow halls beneath the fells. 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
   I got out and from where I stood, high at the head, I could see all of the strangely formed cleft in the hills, its steep sides grooved and furrowed by countless streams feeding the boisterous Halden Beck which tumbled over its rocky bed far below. Down there, were trees and some cultivated fields, but immediately behind me the wild country came crowding in on the bowl where the farmhouse lay. Halsten Pike, Alstang, Birnside—the huge fells with their barbarous names were very near. 1970, James Herriot, If Only They Could Talk
   She didn't know at first why she stepped off the road and climbed the bank on to the fells; it wasn't until she found herself skirting a disused quarry that she realised where she was making for, and when she reached the place she stood and gazed at it. It was a hollow within an outcrop of rock, not large enough to call a cave but deep enough to shelter eight people from the rain, and with room to spare. 1971, Catherine Cookson, The Dwelling Place
2. (archaic outside UK) A wild field or upland moor.
   As over Holt and Heath, as thorough Frith and Fell; 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, song 11 p. 174
   The night continued beautifully clear and fine, and as we came into the fell country the outlines of the hills showed up dark against the starlit sky. 1948 March and April, O. S. Nock, “Scottish Night Mails of the L.M.S.R.—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 77
   And there are few better ways to enjoy the rugged bleakness of the fells than from a nice warm train, especially when the weather's constantly changing as the day slips away. November 2 2022, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57
   An artist dubbed the Borrowdale Banksy has created this slate work on a Lake District fell after past efforts were vandalised. 29 June 2023, Metro, London, page 15, column 3

Etymology 4

From Middle English fel, fell (“strong, fierce, terrible, cruel, angry”), from Old English *fel, *felo, *fæle (“cruel, savage, fierce”) (only in compounds, wælfel (“bloodthirsty”), ealfelo (“evil, baleful”), ælfæle (“very dire”), etc.), from Proto-West Germanic *fali, *falu, from Proto-Germanic *faluz (“wicked, cruel, terrifying”), from Proto-Indo-European *pol- (“to pour, flow, swim, fly”). Cognate with Old Frisian fal (“cruel”), Middle Dutch fel (“wrathful, cruel, bad, base”), German Low German fell (“rash, swift”), Danish fæl (“disgusting, hideous, ghastly, grim”). Compare also Middle High German vālant (“imp”). See felon.

adj

1. Of a strong and cruel nature; eager and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage.
   one fell swoop
   […] but if it be solitary with the position of an incisor, will it even then bear out Professor Owen's hypothesis, that Thylacoleo, which he infers to have been one of “the fellest and most destructive of predatory beasts, […] 1862, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London
   The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them. 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent
3. (UK dialectal, Scotland) Very large; huge.
4. (obsolete) Eager; earnest; intent.

adv

1. Sharply; fiercely.

Etymology 5

Perhaps from Latin fel (“gall, poison, bitterness”), or more probably from the adjective above.

noun

1. (obsolete, rare) Anger; gall; melancholy.

Etymology 6

noun

1. (mining) The finer portions of ore, which go through the meshes when the ore is sorted by sifting.

Etymology 7

verb

1. simple past of fall
2. (now colloquial) past participle of fall
   For I have heard that my Enemies have fell into that ſnare which they laid for mee. They which would have taken away my life have loſt their own;[…] 1650, Micheel Sandivogius, translated by J. F., A New Light of Alchymie: Taken Out of the Fountaine of Nature, and Manuall Experience[…], London: Richard Cotes, page 121
   I ſhould have fell overboard, or been killed by the enemy ; for having ſo many things to carry along with me, which I knew not how to uſe[…] 1796, Thomas Bennett, The Life and Remarkable Conversion of T. Bennett, Etc. [Written by Himself.], London, page 31
   And when it got to ten past I said you must have fell in with company, but I was beginning to get worried.' 'You know I never fall in with company,' he protested irritably. 'I always leave the Royal at ten to, never a minute more nor less.' 3 October 2013, John McGahern, Collected Stories, Faber & Faber, page 147