E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Fall.
In the fall. In the autumn, at the fall of the leaf. (An American revival.)
1
“What crowds of patients the town doctor kills,
Or how, last fall, he raised the weekly bills.”
Dryden: Juvenal.
To try a fall. To wrestle, when each tries to “fall” or throw the other.
2
“I am given, sir, … . to understand that your younger brother, Orlando, hath a disposition to come in disguised against me to try a fall.”—As You Like It, i. 1.
