fallback
adjEtymology From the verb fall back.
1
That can be resorted to as a fallback.
- a fallback plan
- Synonyms
- alternate, alternative, back-up, backup, secondary
- Derived terms
- fallback font
fallback
noun/ˈfɔːl.bæk/
Etymology From the verb fall back.
1
An act of falling back.
- A failure of one of the rocket's first-stage engines just after liftoff would result in a destructive pad fallback.
- The black hole formed as a result of fallback of ejecta onto the neutron star initially created by the supernova explosion.
2
A backup plan or contingency strategy; an alternative which can be used if something goes wrong with the main plan; a recourse.
- As a fallback, I suppose we can use typewriters if the word processing system fails.
3
Business, Construction, Manufacturing A reduction in bitumen softening point, sometimes called refluxing or overheating, in a relatively closed container.
4
Pulverised material that falls back to earth after a nuclear explosion; fallout.
- Particle size distributions of fallback and ejecta were determined principally by mechanical sieving and weighing.1970, Nuclear Science Abstracts, page 3595:
- Hyponyms
- automatic fallback, modulation fallback