Definition
Meaning of 'fail'
Meaning of 'fail' (Webster Dictionary)
1. Fail 
[ v. i.]
- 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. [ v. i.]- To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; -- used with of.
- To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink.
- To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails.
- To perish; to die; -- used of a person.
- 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.
- To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired ; to be baffled or frusrated.
- To err in judgment; to be mistaken.
- 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.
- Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by failure or failing, except in the phrase without fail.
- Death; decease.
2. Fail [ v. t.]
- To be wanting to ; to be insufficient for; to disappoint;
to desert. [ v. t.]- To miss of attaining; to lose.
Meaning of 'fail' (Princeton's WordNet)
1. fail [ v]
[ v]Meaning (1):
- get worse
- get worse
Example in sentence:
- Her health is declining
Meaning (2):
- disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake
- disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake
Example in sentence:
- His children failed him in the crisis;
- His sense of smell failed him this time;
- His strength finally failed him
Meaning (3):
- be unable
- be unable
Example in sentence:
- I fail to understand your motives
Meaning (4):
- fall short in what is expected
- fall short in what is expected
Example in sentence:
- She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law;
- We must not fail his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust
Meaning (5):
- fail to do something; leave something undone
- fail to do something; leave something undone
Example in sentence:
- 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
Meaning (6):
- fail to get a passing grade
- fail to get a passing grade
Example in sentence:
- Did I fail the test?;
- She studied hard but failed nevertheless
Meaning (7):
- stop operating or functioning
- stop operating or functioning
Example in sentence:
- her eyesight went after the accident;
- The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town;
- The car died on the road;
- The coffee maker broke;
- The engine failed on the way to town;
- The engine finally went
Meaning (8):
- judge unacceptable
- judge unacceptable
Example in sentence:
- The teacher failed six students
Meaning (9):
- become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close
- become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close
Example in sentence:
- A number of banks failed that year;
- The toy company went bankrupt after the competition hired cheap Mexican labor
Meaning (10):
- prove insufficient
- prove insufficient
Example in sentence:
- The water supply for the town failed after a long drought
Meaning (11):
- be unsuccessful
- be unsuccessful
Example in sentence:
- The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably;
- Where do today's public schools fail?
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