 5 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
fail
verb
1: fail to do something; leave something undone; "She failed to
notice that her child was no longer in his crib"; "The
secretary failed to call the customer and the company
lost the account" [syn: {neglect}]
2: be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?";
"The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"
[syn: {go wrong}, {miscarry}] [ant: {succeed}]
3: disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake; "His
sense of smell failed him this time"; "His strength
finally failed him"; "His children failed him in the
crisis" [syn: {betray}]
4: stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went";
"The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke
down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The
engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went
after the accident" [syn: {go bad}, {give way}, {die}, {give
out}, {conk out}, {go}, {break}, {break down}]
5: be unable; "I fail to understand your motives" [ant: {pull
off}]
6: judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students" [ant:
{pass}]
7: fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed
nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?" [syn: {flunk}, {bomb},
{flush it}] [ant: {pass}]
8: fall short in what is expected; "She failed in her
obligations as a good daughter-in-law"; "We must not fail
his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust"
9: become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close;
"The toy company went bankrupt after the competition hired
cheap Mexican labor"; "A number of banks failed that year"
10: prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed
after a long drought" [syn: {run out}, {give out}]
11: get worse; "Her health is declining"
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fail \Fail\ (f[=a]l) verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Failed} (f[=a]ld); p.
pr. & vb. n. {Failing}.] [F. failir, fr. L. fallere, falsum,
to deceive, akin to E. fall. See {Fail}, and cf. {Fallacy},
{False}, {Fault}.]
1. To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in
any measure or degree up to total absence; to cease to be
furnished in the usual or expected manner, or to be
altogether cut off from supply; to be lacking; as, streams
fail; crops fail.
As the waters fail from the sea. --Job xiv. 11.
Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign.
--Shak.
2. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be
deficient or unprovided; -- used with of.
If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not be
attributed to their size. --Berke.
3. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay;
to sink.
When earnestly they seek
Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail.
--Milton.
4. To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources,
etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails.
5. To perish; to die; -- used of a person. [Obs.]
Had the king in his last sickness failed. --Shak.
6. To be found wanting with respect to an action or a duty to
be performed, a result to be secured, etc.; to miss; not
to fulfill expectation.
Take heed now that ye fail not to do this. --Ezra
iv. 22.
Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.
--Shak.
7. To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired;
to be baffled or frusrated.
Our envious foe hath failed. --Milton.
8. To err in judgment; to be mistaken.
Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps
Shall grieve him, if I fail not. --Milton.
9. To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to
be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business
obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent; as, many
credit unions failed in the late 1980's.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fail \Fail\, verb (used with an object)
1. To be wanting to; to be insufficient for; to disappoint;
to desert.
There shall not fail thee a man on the throne. --1
Kings ii. 4.
2. To miss of attaining; to lose. [R.]
Though that seat of earthly bliss be failed.
--Milton.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fail \Fail\, noun [OF. faille, from failir. See {Fail}, verb (used without an object)]
1. Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly
superseded by {failure} or {failing}, except in the phrase
without fail. ''His highness' fail of issue.'' --Shak.
2. Death; decease. [Obs.] --Shak.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
218 Moby Thesaurus words for "fail":
abandon, abort, age, bankrupt, be a gas, be a hit,
be caught napping, be found wanting, be inferior, be insufficient,
be neglectful, be negligent, be ruined, be unfaithful,
be unsuccessful, become insolvent, bill, bomb, break, break faith,
bust, cave in, cheat the undertaker, close down, close up,
collapse, come apart, come short, come to grief, come unstuck,
conk out, crash, crumble, decay, decline, decrease, default,
deplete, desert, deteriorate, die, diminish, disappear, disappoint,
disintegrate, disregard, dodder, drain, dramatize, droop, drop,
dwindle, ebb, exhaust, fade, fail of, fail of success, faint, fall,
fall away, fall flat, fall off, fall short, fall shy, fall through,
falter, feature, fizzle out, flag, flop, flunk, flunk out, fold,
fold up, follow, forsake, founder, get along, get on, give out,
give way, gloss over, go back on, go bankrupt, go broke, go down,
go downhill, go into receivership, go off, go out, go soft,
go to pieces, go to pot, go to ruin, go under, go up, go wrong,
grow old, gutter, have nothing on, headline, hit a slump,
hit rock bottom, hit the skids, ignore, impoverish, jade,
kick the beam, labor in vain, lack, lag, languish, lapse,
leave undone, lessen, let down, let go, let ride, let slide,
let slip, lose, lose ground, lose sight of, lose strength,
lose track of, make a hit, melodramatize, miscarry, misfire, miss,
mount, neglect, nod, not answer, not approach, not care for,
not come near, not come off, not compare, not get involved,
not hack it, not heed, not make it, not make out, not measure up,
not pass, not qualify, not stretch, not suffice, not think,
not work, open, open a show, overlook, pass over, pass the buck,
peak, peg out, peter out, pine, play second fiddle, poop out,
premiere, present, preview, produce, put on, rank under,
reach the depths, run aground, run down, run out, run short,
scenarize, serve, set the stage, shake, shift the blame,
shift the responsibility, short, shrink, shrivel, shut down, sink,
sleep, slide, slight, slip, slump, spin, stage, star, stop short,
subserve, subside, succeed, take for granted, theatricalize,
totter, touch bottom, try out, turn gray, turn white, wane, want,
wash out, waste, waste away, weaken, wear away, wear thin, wilt,
wither, wither away, wizen, worsen, wrinkle, yield
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