fall over one's feet en · VERB
Etymology
From the phrase fall over one's feet, meaning stumble.
Meanings
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To hasten.
a. 1998, Diana Wynne Jones, "The Master", in her own Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories, HarperCollins, →ISBN (2003), page 55, "Show me the rest of the house," I said, to distract him. He fell over his feet to oblige.
"Luther fell over his feet trying to get away from there. He was so eat up with meanness the snakes wouldn't even touch him."
2004, Michael Morris, A Place Called Wiregrass, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 69:Supposing there is a scrap—wouldn't she wade right in, trying to help us, and wouldn't you fall over your own feet trying so get her out of it?
2001, Elizabeth Peters, He Shall Thunder in the Sky, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 261:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fell over one's feet | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| fallen over one's feet | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| falling over one's feet | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| falls over one's feet | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |