fall by the wayside
/ˈfɔl baɪ ðə ˈweɪˌsaɪd/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.99 in modern English
34
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
2
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To fail to be completed, particularly for lack of interest; to be left out, to suffer from neglect.
Example Sentences
- "When I faint and fall by the wayside of my cares, it [a "cup of favor"] shall give me strength to bear up, as the refreshments of your sympathy seem to flow from its lip, and when I thirst, it shall be as one of the consecrated fountains of my relief."
- "The information given is so copious that the facts—archæological, ethnological, and so on—might, we think, have been grouped with advantage, at any rate to students, in special chapters, instead of being allowed to fall by the wayside as chance ordered."
- "Nature's precious link between a squalid Past and a nobler Future, broken, snatched away from her allotted place in the long chain of the ages! Heiress of infinite hope, and dowered with latent fitness to fulfil her part, now so suddenly fallen by the wayside!"
- "The boy and girl taking their cue from us also fail to put "first things first" and we find them falling by the wayside because our sense of relative values failed to function."
- "At this stage the learner tries to master the new tasks by the only means known—memorizing the rule for each kind of problem. This task being now impossible, even the outward appearance of progress ceases, and, with accompanying distress, another pupil falls by the wayside."
- "[D]ying dramatic arts like Kabuki and No (or Noh) that have existed for years [...] are falling by the wayside because of the onslaught of VCRs and the Hollywoodization of the dramatic arts."
Etymology
From the Parable of the Sower told by Jesus and recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, the term appearing in Matthew 13:4, Mark 4:4, and Luke 8:5. The parable is the story of a farmer who sows seed, and “some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it” (Luke 8:5). Jesus then explains: “The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside, are they that hear: then cometh the Devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe, and be saved.” (Luke 8:11–12, King James Version, spelling modernized.) The English term is derived from Ancient Greek ἔπεσεν παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν (épesen parà tḕn hodón, literally “fell beside the path”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ἔπεσεν παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈfɔl baɪ ðə ˈweɪˌsaɪd/
- British English: /ˈfɔːl baɪ ðə ˈweɪsaɪd/