 5 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
failure
noun
1: an act that fails; "his failure to pass the test"
2: an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose; "the
surprise party was a complete failure" [ant: {success}]
3: lack of success; "he felt that his entire life had been a
failure"; "that year there was a crop failure" [ant: {success}]
4: a person with a record of failing; someone who loses
consistently [syn: {loser}, {nonstarter}, {unsuccessful
person}] [ant: {achiever}]
5: an unexpected omission; "he resented my failure to return
his call"; "the mechanic's failure to check the brakes"
6: inability to discharge all your debts as they come due; "the
company had to declare bankruptcy"; "fraudulent loans led
to the failure of many banks" [syn: {bankruptcy}]
7: loss of ability to function normally; "kidney failure"
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Failure \Fail"ure\, noun [From {Fail}.]
1. Cessation of supply, or total defect; a failing;
deficiency; as, failure of rain; failure of crops.
2. Omission; nonperformance; as, the failure to keep a
promise.
3. Want of success; the state of having failed.
4. Decay, or defect from decay; deterioration; as, the
failure of memory or of sight.
5. A becoming insolvent; bankruptcy; suspension of payment;
as, failure in business.
6. A failing; a slight fault. [Obs.] --Johnson.
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superseded by {failure} or {failing}, except in the phrase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]:
434 Moby Thesaurus words for "failure":
Grand Guignol, Passion play, Sisyphean labor, Tom show, Waterloo,
also-ran, antimasque, arrear, arrearage, arrears, atrocity,
audience success, bad habit, bafflement, balk, ballet, bankrupt,
bankruptcy, baseness, beating, besetting sin, betrayed hope,
blasted expectation, blemish, blighted hope, blow, bomb,
bootlessness, botch, bouncing check, breach, breakdown,
broadcast drama, buffet, bug, burlesque show, bust, catch, charade,
clerical error, cliff hanger, closet drama, collapse, comedown,
comedy drama, conquering, conquest, corrigendum,
counterproductiveness, counterproductivity, crack, crash, crime,
crime against humanity, critical success, cruel disappointment,
culpa, culpable negligence, dash, dashed hope, daytime serial,
dead duck, deadly sin, dearth, deathblow, debacle, debasement,
debilitation, decadence, decadency, decay, declension, declination,
decline, defalcation, default, defeat, defect, defection,
defectiveness, deficiency, deficit, deformation, degeneracy,
degenerateness, degeneration, degradation, delinquency, demotion,
depravation, depravedness, depreciation, dereliction, derogation,
descent, destruction, deterioration, devolution, dialogue,
disappointment, discomfiture, disconformity, discontinuance,
disillusionment, disregard, dissatisfaction, documentary drama,
downfall, downtrend, downturn, downward mobility, downward trend,
drama, dramalogue, dramatic play, dramatic series, drawback, drop,
drubbing, dud, duodrama, duologue, dying, ebb, ebbing, effeteness,
endless task, enfeeblement, enormity, epic theater, erratum, error,
evil, exhaustion, experimental theater, extravaganza, fading,
failing, failure of nerve, fall, fallen countenance, falling short,
falling-off, false alarm, fatuity, fault, faute, felony, fewness,
fiasco, fizzle, flagging, flaw, flop, foible, foiling, folding,
forlorn hope, frailty, frustration, futility, gasser, genocide,
giveaway, guilty act, happening, hash, heavy sin, hiding, hit,
hit show, hole, hope deferred, human error, imperfection,
impropriety, improvisational drama, inadequacy, inadvertence,
inadvertency, inanity, inattention, incompetence, incompetent,
indifference, indiscretion, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality,
ineffectualness, inefficaciousness, inefficacy, inexecution,
inexpiable sin, inferiority, infirmity, iniquity, injury,
injustice, inobservance, insolvency, insolvent, insolvent debtor,
insufficiency, insufficient funds, invalidity, involution, kink,
kited check, laches, lack, laissez-faire, lambasting, lame duck,
lapse, lathering, laxity, laxness, legitimate drama, lemon,
letdown, licking, little problem, littleness, loose ends,
looseness, loser, loss, loss of tone, maladroitness, malefaction,
malfeasance, malum, masque, mastery, meagerness, meanness,
mediocrity, melodrama, minor wrong, minstrel show, miracle,
miracle play, mirage, misapprehension, miscalculation, miscarriage,
misconception, miscount, misdeal, misdeed, misdemeanor,
misfeasance, misidentification, misjudgment, misplay, misprint,
misquotation, misreport, miss, misstatement, mistake,
misunderstanding, misuse, monodrama, monologue, moral flaw,
morality, morality play, mortal sin, muddle, music drama,
musical revue, mystery, mystery play, neglect, neglectfulness,
negligence, no go, nonaccomplishment, nonachievement, nonadherence,
noncompliance, nonconformance, nonconformity, nonconsummation,
nondischarging, nonentity, nonexecution, nonfeasance,
nonfulfillment, noninterference, nonobservance, nonperformance,
nonrestriction, nonsuccess, offense, omission, opera, outrage,
overcoming, overdraft, overdrawn account, overlooking, oversight,
overthrow, overturn, pageant, panel show, pantomime, pastoral,
pastoral drama, paucity, peccadillo, peccancy, permissiveness,
pettiness, piece, play, playlet, poor stewardship, poorness,
problem, problem play, procrastination, psychodrama, quietus,
quiz show, radio drama, receivership, regression, remissness,
retrocession, retrogradation, retrogression, review, revue, rift,
rough edges, ruin, scantiness, sensational play, serial, setback,
shabbiness, short measure, shortage, shortcoming, shortfall, show,
sin, sin of commission, sin of omission, sinful act, sitcom,
situation comedy, sketch, skimpiness, skit, slackness, slight,
slip, slippage, slump, smallness, smash, snag, soap, soap opera,
sociodrama, something missing, sore disappointment, spectacle,
stage play, stage show, straight drama, subdual, subduing,
subjugation, subnormality, success, suspense drama, tableau,
tableau vivant, taint, talk show, tantalization, tease, teleplay,
television drama, television play, theater of cruelty, thrashing,
tort, total theater, transgression, trespass, trimming, trip,
triviality, trouncing, typo, typographical error, unconcern,
underage, undoing, unfulfillment, unobservance, unrigorousness,
unskillfulness, unsuccess, unsuccessfulness, unutterable sin,
uselessness, vanquishment, variety show, vaudeville,
vaudeville show, vehicle, venial sin, vice, vulgarity,
vulnerable place, wane, waning, washout, weak link, weak point,
weak side, weakness, whipping, word-of-mouth success, work,
work of Penelope, wrong
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
failure
The inability of a system or system component to perform a
required function within specified limits. A failure may be
produced when a {fault} is encountered.
(1996-05-13)
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