Dictionary

forcefall en · NOUN

Etymology

From Middle English *forsfal, from Old Norse forsfall (“waterfall, torrent”), equivalent to force (“waterfall”) + fall. Compare Icelandic fossfall (“waterfall, torrent”).

Meanings

1. (qualifier:literal or figurative, rare) A waterfall or cascading torrent.
   • For down from His heights, marking the descent by "forcefalls" as a river marks declivities in its bed by cataracts, comes this supreme power; […] 1924, Frederick Spencer Oliver, A Dweller on Two Planets, page 64:
   • Tops of sweet birch snap strong and stiff like bones busting against bats or the sides of heads slapping concrete through the forcefall that takes a score more limbs before piercing top soil like carelessly falling arrows. 1990, Gladys Goring Johnson, December, volume 33, page 82:

Forms

Synonyms

waterfall