infall

noun, verb — 6 senses

infall

noun

/ˈɪnfɔːl/

Etymology From in- + fall.

1

The act or process of falling in.

2

An incursion; an inroad.

  • 1650, Oliver Cromwell, a letter we learn that Ker , with his Western Army , was lying at a place called Carmunnock , when he made this infall upon Lambert
3

The area where water, storm runoff, etc., enters a storm drain.

4

Astronomy, Natural sciences Movement towards a massive astronomical body under the influence of gravity; especially the process whereby gas falls towards a neutron star or black hole at high speed, forming a plasma

infall

verb

/ɪnˈfɔːl/

Etymology From in- + fall.

1

To fall in.

2

Astronomy, Natural sciences To undergo infall.

  • After this time the beam mass loss rate decreases since once the expansion wave radius is larger than the beam, material initially outside the beam starts to infall and compensate for material which is collapsing at centre of the core [...]1997, Bo Reipurth, Claude Bertout, Herbig-Haro flows and the birth of low mass stars:
Derived terms
infalling

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.