fall behind
phrase
as in delay
to move or act slowly
He lost his footing and fell behind in the relay.
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Recent Examples of fall behind
Despite the full lineup and passionate patriotic crowd in Seattle, Team USA looked uncomfortable from the start, fell behind early, made sloppy mistakes and could not keep up with the Belgians, who move on to face Spain in the quarterfinals.
—
Miami Herald,
7 July 2026
The update indicated that Maersk is set to fall behind CMA CGM for second-largest container shipping capacity worldwide by July 2027, while Hapag-Lloyd could be usurped by Ocean Network Express (ONE) in February 2028.
—
Glenn Taylor,
Footwear News,
6 July 2026
After getting broken to fall behind 2-4 in the third, Djokovic attempted to knock a ball back to the ball boy, who was crouched beside the umpire’s chair.
—
Adam Zagoria,
Forbes.com,
5 July 2026
Countries are scrambling not to fall behind in AI — and French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are leading a personal charm offensives to court tech CEOs.
—
Kai Nicol-Schwarz,priyanka Salve,
CNBC,
4 July 2026
Raleigh fell behind 0-2 in the count but worked a nine-pitch walk that scored Crawford and chased Ureña (5-7).
—
Los Angeles Times,
3 July 2026
Trevino fell behind 0-2 before working the count full and hitting his first homer since June 8, 2025.
—
ABC News,
2 July 2026
With Meta’s models falling behind, becoming a cloud provider keeps it relevant in AI and buys it time to develop its own technology.
—
Rachyl Jones,
semafor.com,
1 July 2026
The billionaire Wall Street leader said that employers who stick behind remote schedules are falling behind—and young workers in particular could be left in the dust.
—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
30 June 2026
Miami Herald,
7 July 2026
The update indicated that Maersk is set to fall behind CMA CGM for second-largest container shipping capacity worldwide by July 2027, while Hapag-Lloyd could be usurped by Ocean Network Express (ONE) in February 2028.
—
Glenn Taylor,
Footwear News,
6 July 2026
After getting broken to fall behind 2-4 in the third, Djokovic attempted to knock a ball back to the ball boy, who was crouched beside the umpire’s chair.
—
Adam Zagoria,
Forbes.com,
5 July 2026
Countries are scrambling not to fall behind in AI — and French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are leading a personal charm offensives to court tech CEOs.
—
Kai Nicol-Schwarz,priyanka Salve,
CNBC,
4 July 2026
Raleigh fell behind 0-2 in the count but worked a nine-pitch walk that scored Crawford and chased Ureña (5-7).
—
Los Angeles Times,
3 July 2026
Trevino fell behind 0-2 before working the count full and hitting his first homer since June 8, 2025.
—
ABC News,
2 July 2026
With Meta’s models falling behind, becoming a cloud provider keeps it relevant in AI and buys it time to develop its own technology.
—
Rachyl Jones,
semafor.com,
1 July 2026
The billionaire Wall Street leader said that employers who stick behind remote schedules are falling behind—and young workers in particular could be left in the dust.
—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
30 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fall behind.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fall%20behind. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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