Hi! You're right that the word "thick" can have a surprising range of meanings and uses, and "fall thick" adds an interesting layer to that. In the examples you gave—"snow/flakes/rain/sparks/tears fell thick"—this phrase is a poetic and somewhat figurative way to describe something falling heavily, abundantly, or densely. It conveys the idea that the objects are falling in such a way that they seem to fill the air or the space between them is minimal. To break it down: 1. Common usage: In phrases like "rain is falling thick and fast," "fall thick" is used in a descriptive and almost visual way to describe how intensely something is falling. This is more common in literary or poetic language but understandable in everyday speech to mean a lot of something is falling at once. 2. Longfellow's usage: The line you mentioned from Longfellow—"But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast"—is definitely a figurative use of the phrase. Here, "fall thick" is describing how the hopes of youth are being lost or dashed in large numbers, much like snow or rain might fall in a storm. The metaphor conveys the fragility of youthful hopes being blown away by life's hardships, much as snowflakes would be scattered in the wind. In this case, Longfellow uses "fall thick" not just to describe a physical event, but to evoke a sense of overwhelming loss, where many hopes are being destroyed all at once, much like in a storm where things are blown away in abundance. So, to summarize: In common usage, "fall thick" can describe something falling heavily or in large amounts (e.g., rain, snow, etc.). In figurative usage, like Longfellow's poem, it describes the heavy or abundant loss of something intangible, like hopes or dreams. Both are valid uses, but in poetry, it's often used more metaphorically for emotional or conceptual ideas.

Shana, you ask such good questions. The sentence (1) "The snow fell thick" has the same grammatical structure as the common sentence (2) "He spoke loud and clear". More direct sentences would be (1+) "The snow fell thickly" (2+) "He spoke loudly and clearly" All four of these sentences are good. The difference is that (1) and (2) use adjectives to describe the subject (the snow is "thick", the speaker was "loud" and "clear"), while (1+) and (2+) use adverbs to describe the verbs ("thickly" describes "fell", "loudly" and "clearly" describe "spoke"). Adjectives that describe the subject in sentences such as (1) and (2) are called "predicate adjectives". The verb that links the subject to the adjective is called a "linking verb". "Fall" is the linking verb in (1) and "spoke" is the linking verb in (2). Some verbs are used often as linking verbs. You can do a web search to produce lists of such verbs. The most common linking verb is "to be". In fact, every instance of the so-called "Present Continuous Tense" presents such an example. That "tense" is nothing more than the linking of a present participle adjective to a subject using "to be" as a linking verb ("she is going"). "Fall" is an uncommon choice as a linking verb, but its use in (1) is quite beautiful. It is poetic.

The expression is quite poetic even in normal use. I've not heard myself of rain (or tears) falling thick, only snow, to which it seems to apply more readily, as the snow obscures our vision with its thickness, and on landing will settle in to a thick layer. When talking about rain it's more common to say 'heavy'. Re Longfellow's poem, ola has given you an excellent explanation, though I would like to add that the word 'fall' refers both to the [literal] falling of young men in battle ['in the blast'] as well as the loss of their hopes and dreams.

thick - in abundance or plentiful or very much.

It’s not used colloquially in American English. It sounds very old-fashioned - perhaps used to sound poetic. ‘thick’ is a common adjective with many meanings and also has a noun meaning.