It falls, breaking a thing (5)

I believe the answer is:

night

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'it falls' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'breaking a thing' is the wordplay.
'breaking' indicates an anagram.
'thing' is an anagram of 'NIGHT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for night that I've seen before include "- School, - owl" , "'She walks in beauty, like the . . . . .' (Byron)" , "What proverbially follows day" , "Darkness; see you in the morning" , "''Tender is the ...'' (F Scott Fitzgerald)|" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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