▪ I. ˈdownfalling, vbl. n.
The act of falling down; downfall; † setting.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter li. 6 Þou loved alle wordes of doun fallinge [L. praecipitationis]. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6576 Hate teres of gretyng, That the synful sal scalden in the dounfallyng. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 331 Ane [comet] schane ay afore the sonne-rising, and this othir afore his downfalling. 1826 E. Irving Babylon II. vi. 97 He sent..Jeremiah..before the downfalling of destruction. |
▪ II. ˈdownfalling, ppl. a.
Falling down; also fig. declining, decaying.
| [a 1300 E.E. Psalter xvii. 9 Koles þat ware doun falland Kindled ere of him glouand.] 1590 C. S. Right Religion 14 The downfalling pride of the Pope. 1659 D. Pell Impr. Sea 408 The Seamans high soaring sursums, and his down⁓falling deorsums. 1886 A. Winchell Geol. Field 60 A downfalling mass of vapour. |