- to cut or knock down: to fell a tree, to fell an opponent
- to fold under and sew flat (the edges of a seam)
- US Canadian the timber felled in one season
- a seam finished by felling
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
fell1 /fɛl/USA pronunciation
v.
fell2 /fɛl/USA pronunciation v. [~ + object]
fell3 /fɛl/USA pronunciation adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- pt. of fall.
fell2 /fɛl/USA pronunciation v. [~ + object]
- to knock, strike, shoot, or cut down;
cause to fall:to fell a tree.
fell3 /fɛl/USA pronunciation adj.
- fierce;
cruel;
deadly:a fell disease.
- Idioms at or in one fell swoop, all at once or all together, as if by a single blow:The tornado leveled the houses in one fell swoop.
fell1
(fel),USA pronunciation v.
fell2 (fel),USA pronunciation v.t.
n.
fell3 (fel),USA pronunciation adj.
fell′ness, n.
fell4 (fel),USA pronunciation n.
fell5 (fel),USA pronunciation n. [Scot. and North Eng.]
- pt. of fall.
fell2 (fel),USA pronunciation v.t.
- Clothingto knock, strike, shoot, or cut down;
cause to fall:to fell a moose; to fell a tree. - Clothing[Sewing.]to finish (a seam) by sewing the edge down flat.
n.
- [Lumbering.]the amount of timber cut down in one season.
- Clothing[Sewing.]a seam finished by felling.
- bef. 900; Middle English fellen, Old English fellan, causative of feallan to fall; cognate with Gothic falljan to cause to fall
fell3 (fel),USA pronunciation adj.
- fierce;
cruel;
dreadful;
savage. - destructive;
deadly:fell poison; fell disease. - Idioms at or in one fell swoop. See swoop (def. 5).
- Old French, nominative of felon wicked. See felon
- Middle English fel 1250–1300
fell4 (fel),USA pronunciation n.
- the skin or hide of an animal;
pelt.
- bef. 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch vel, German Fell, Old Norse -fjall (in berfjall bear-skin), Gothic -fill (in thrutsfill scab-skin, leprosy); akin to Latin pellis skin, hide
fell5 (fel),USA pronunciation n. [Scot. and North Eng.]
- Scottish Termsan upland pasture, moor, or thicket;
a highland plateau.
- Old Norse fell, fjall hill, mountain, akin to German Felsen rock, cliff
- Middle English 1300–50
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
fell /fɛl/ vb (transitive)
fell /fɛl/ adj
- archaic cruel or fierce; terrible
- archaic destructive or deadly
- one fell swoop ⇒ a single hasty action or occurrence
fell /fɛl/ vb
the past tense of fall
fell /fɛl/ n
- an animal skin or hide
fell /fɛl/ n
- (often plural) Northern English Scot
- a mountain, hill, or tract of upland moor
- (in combination): fell-walking
'felled' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
abatis
- drive
- fell
- green
- stump
- tree-hugger
- buck
- bucker
- choke
- fellable
- flat-felled seam
- hewn
- limb
- log
- refel
- slash-and-burn
- stump farm
- swamp
- swamper