Word.ws English Dictionary

falling flat on one's face

falling flat on one's face is the present participle and gerund of fall flat on one's face.

Meaning of fall flat on one's face

Verb

fall flat on one's face (third-person singular simple present falls flat on one's face, present participle falling flat on one's face, simple past fell flat on one's face, past participle fallen flat on one's face)

  1. (literally) To fall headlong forwards, notionally hitting one's face on the ground.
    • I tripped over my shoelace and fell flat on my face.
  2. (figuratively) To fail miserably, especially in an obvious or embarrassing way.
    • He tried to start his own business but fell flat on his face.

Questions about falling flat on one's face

What is falling flat on one's face the present participle and gerund of?
Falling flat on one's face is the present participle and gerund of fall flat on one's face.

Words near falling flat on one's face in the dictionary

  1. falling diphthongs
  2. falling down
  3. falling down on
  4. falling due
  5. falling flat
  6. falling flat on one's face
  7. falling for
  8. falling foul
  9. falling from grace
  10. falling ill
  11. falling in

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: falling flat on one's face (page history and authors); fall flat on one's face (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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