Definition: downfall

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

downfall
     n 1: failure that results in a loss of position or reputation
          [syn: ruin, ruination]
     2: the falling to earth of rain or snow or hail or sleet or
        mist [syn: precipitation]
     3: a sudden decline in strength or number or importance; "the
        fall of the House of Hapsburg" [syn: fall] [ant: rise]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Downfall \Down"fall`\, n.
   1. A sudden fall; a body of things falling.

            Those cataracts or downfalls aforesaid. --Holland.

            Each downfall of a flood the mountains pour.
                                                  --Dryden.

   2. A sudden descent from rank or state, reputation or
      happiness; destruction; ruin.

            Dire were the consequences which would follow the
            downfall of so important a place.     --Motley.