Definitions for: Fail


[v] prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought"
[v] get worse; "Her health is declining"
[v] 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"
[v] 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"
[v] 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"
[v] fall short in what is expected; "She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law"
[v] fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?"
[v] judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students"
[v] be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"
[v] 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"
[v] be unable; "I fail to understand your motives"



Webster (1913) Definition: Failv. i. [imp. & p. p. Failed; 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.


Fail, v. t.
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.


Fail, n. [OF. faille, from failir. See Fail, v. i.]
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.

Synonyms: betray, break, break down, conk out, die, give out, give way, go, go bad, go wrong, miscarry, neglect, run out

Antonyms: bring off, carry off, come through, make it, manage, negociate, pass, pull off, succeed, win

See Also: ball up, blow, blow, blow out, bobble, bollix, bollix up, bollocks, bollocks up, botch, botch up, bumble, bungle, burn out, change, choke, crash, decline, default, default on, disappoint, fall, fall flat, fall through, flop, flub, fluff, foul up, founder, fuck up, fumble, go down, judge, let down, louse up, malfunction, mess up, misfire, misfunction, mishandle, miss, muck up, muff, overreach, screw up, shipwreck, spoil, strike out, take it on the chin, worsen

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