fail
/feɪl/
noun/feɪl/
/feɪl/
Meaning
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Meaning 1 · noun
Poor quality; substandard workmanship.
“The project was full of fail.”
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Meaning 2 · noun
A failure (condition of being unsuccessful)
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Meaning 3 · noun
A failure (something incapable of success)
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Meaning 4 · noun
A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action).
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Meaning 5 · noun
A failing grade in an academic examination.
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Meaning 6 · verb
To be unsuccessful.
“Throughout my life, I have always failed.”
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Meaning 7 · verb
Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.)
“The truck failed to start.”
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Meaning 8 · verb
To neglect.
“The report fails to take into account all the mitigating factors.”
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Meaning 9 · verb
Of a machine, etc.: to cease to operate correctly.
“After running five minutes, the engine failed.”
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Meaning 10 · verb
To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert.
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Meaning 11 · verb
To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits.
“I failed English last year.”
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Meaning 12 · verb
To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour.
“The professor failed me because I did not complete any of the course assignments.”
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Meaning 13 · verb
To miss attaining; to lose.
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Meaning 14 · verb
To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence.
“The crops failed last year.”
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Meaning 15 · verb
To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; used with of.
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Meaning 16 · verb
To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink.
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Meaning 17 · verb
To deteriorate in respect to vigour, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker.
“A sick man fails.”
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Meaning 18 · verb
To perish; to die; used of a person.
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Meaning 19 · verb
To err in judgment; to be mistaken.
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Meaning 20 · verb
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.
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Meaning 21 · adjective
That is a failure.
How this word is used
- Everyday “The project was full of fail.”
- Everyday “Throughout my life, I have always failed.”
- General “The truck failed to start.”
- General “The report fails to take into account all the mitigating factors.”
- General “After running five minutes, the engine failed.”
- General “I failed English last year.”
- General “The professor failed me because I did not complete any of the course assignments.”
- General “The crops failed last year.”
- General “A sick man fails.”
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Origin
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