Garment put out to dry fell (6)

I believe the answer is:
abated
'fell' is the definition.
(abating is a kind of falling)
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abated that I've seen before include "Became more moderate" , "Subsided or decreased like storm" , "Relaxed" , "Slackened off, died back" , "grew smaller" .)
