phrasal verb / collocation · neutral
break the fall
UK/breɪk ðə fɔːl/US/breɪk ðə fɔl/BREAK·the·FALL
to prevent someone from being hurt by stopping or lessening the effect of a fall; figuratively, to reduce the negative impact of something
Examples
“He put out his hand to break the fall.”
“A strong social safety net can break the fall for families hit by job loss.”
“She used her arms to break the fall after slipping on the ice.”
Band 8 sentence
“Comprehensive unemployment benefits can break the fall for workers who unexpectedly lose their jobs.”
Collocations
- break the fall with your hands/arms
- break the fall of someone
Word family
Common mistakes
She break the fall with her hands.→She broke the fall with her hands.
Social policies can break fall for families.→Social policies can break the fall for families.
Say it for a higher band
5reduce the impact→6soften the blow→7+break the fall
Synonyms
soften the blow
cushion
Easily confused
soften the blow
“The refund policy helped soften the blow for disappointed customers.”
cushion
“Insurance can cushion the financial impact of a disaster.”
Related words
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In break …
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