fall off a truck
Of an item of merchandise, to come into a person's possession without having been paid for; to be acquired illegally; to have been stolen.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“That laptop fell off a truck, so I got it cheap.”
“He sold me a phone that fell off a truck, but I didn't ask questions.”
“The warehouse manager was arrested after years of letting electronics fall off a truck into the hands of local dealers.”
- 01
back up the truck
To take advantage of favourable pricing by purchasing a large amount.
- 02
catch a falling knife
To buy a financial instrument whose price is falling rapidly.
- 03
fall apart
To be emotionally in crisis.
- 04
fall around
To fall over continually, especially through drunkenness, clumsiness, or incompetence.
- 05
fall asleep
To be affected by paresthesia; to go numb.
- 06
fall at the last hurdle
To fail near the end of an activity, a project, etc.
- 07
fall behind
To be late (for a regular event)
- 08
fall between the cracks
To wind up in an unexpected situation which is, inadvertently, invisible to or not handled by whatever process one had hoped to be subject to; to be overlooked.
Last updated August 10, 2026