to fall to
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To begin (eating, fighting, etc.). Come, Sir, fall to, then; you see my little supper is always ready when I come home, and I'll make no stranger of you. — Cotton, in WALTON'S Compleat Angler.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to fall to” mean?
To begin (eating, fighting, etc.). Come, Sir, fall to, then; you see my little supper is always ready when I come home, and I'll make no stranger of you. — Cotton, in WALTON'S Compleat Angler.
Is “to fall to” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.