Definitions for fail
feɪlfail

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. fail, neglectverb

   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"

2. fail, go wrong, miscarryverb

   be unsuccessful

   "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"

3. fail, betrayverb

   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"

4. fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break downverb

   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"

5. failverb

   be unable

   "I fail to understand your motives"

6. failverb

   judge unacceptable

   "The teacher failed six students"

7. fail, flunk, bomb, flush itverb

   fail to get a passing grade

   "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?"

8. failverb

   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. failverb

   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. fail, run out, give outverb

    prove insufficient

    "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought"

11. failverb

    get worse

    "Her health is declining"

WiktionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. failnoun

   a failure, especially of a financial transaction

2. failnoun

   a failing grade in an academic examination

3. failverb

   To be unsuccessful.

   Throughout my life, I have always failed.

4. failverb

   Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.)

   The truck failed to start.

5. failverb

   To neglect.

   The report fails to take into account all the mitigating factors.

6. failverb

   To cease to operate correctly.

   After running five minutes, the engine failed.

7. failverb

   To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert.

8. failverb

   To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits.

   I failed in English last year.

9. failverb

   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.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Failnoun

   Etymology: from the verb.

   1. Miscarriage; miss; unsuccessfulness.2. Omission; non-performance.

   Mark and perform it, seest thou? for the fail
   Of any point in’t shall not only be Death to thyself, but to thy lewd-tongu’d wife. William Shakespeare.

   He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites. Jos. iii. 10.

   3. Deficience; want.4. Death; extinction.

   How grounded he his title to the crown
   Upon our fail? William Shakespeare, Henry VIII.

2. To Failverb

   1. To desert; not to continue to assist or supply.

   The ship was now left alone, as proud lords be when fortune fails them. Philip Sidney, b. ii.

   So hast thou oft with guile thine honour blent;
   But little may such guile thee now avail,
   If wonted force and fortune do not much me fail. Fai. Qu.

   There shall be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, mens hearts failing them for fear. Lu. xxi. 26.

   Her heart failed her, and she would sain have compounded for her life. Roger L'Estrange.

   He presumes upon his parts that they will not fail him at time of need, and so thinks it superfluous labour to make any provision beforehand. John Locke.

   2. Not to assist; to neglect; to omit to help.

   Since nature fails us in no needful thing,
   Why want I means my inward self to see? Davies.

   3. To omit; not to perform.

   The inventive god who never fails his part,
   Inspires the wit, when once he warms the heart. Dryden.

   4. To be wanting to.

   There shall not fail thee a man on the throne. 1 Kings ii. 4.

3. To FAILverb

   Etymology: failler, French; faeln, Welsh. Pezron.

   1. To be deficient; to cease from former plenty; to fall short; not to be equal to demand or use.

   The waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up. Job xiv. 11.

   Where the credit and money fail, barter alone must do. John Locke.

   2. To be extinct; to cease to be produced.

   Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. Ps. xii. 1.

   Let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue. 2 Sa. iii. 29.

   3. To cease; to perish; to be lost.

   For Titan, by the mighty loss dismay’d,
   Among the heavens th’ immortal fact display’d,
   Lest the remembrance of his grief should fail. Addison.

   4. To die; to lose life.

   Had the king in his last sickness fail’d,
   Their heads should have gone off. William Shakespeare, Henry VIII.

   Both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. Is. xxxi. 3.

   5. To sink; to be torn down; to languish through resistance.

   Neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before me. Is. lvii. 16.

   6. To decay; to decline; to languish.

   Mine eyes fail. Ps. cxix. 82.

   I perceive
   Thy mortal sight to fail: objects divine
   Must needs impair and weary human sense. John Milton, Par. Lost.

   7. To miss; not to produce its effect.

   Consider of deformity not as a sign which is deceiveable, but as a cause which seldom faileth of the effect. Francis Bacon, Essays.

   This jest was first of th’ other house’s making,
   And, five times try’d, has never fail’d of taking. Dryden.

   A persuasion that we shall overcome any difficulties, that we meet with in the sciences, seldom fails to carry us through them. John Locke.

   He does not remember whether every grain came up or not; but he thinks that very few failed. John Mortimer, Husband.

   8. To miss; not to succeed in a design.

   I am enjoin’d, by oath, if I fail
   Of the right casket, never in my life
   To woo a maid in way of marriage. William Shakespeare, Merch. of Venice.

   In difficulties of state, the true reason of failing proceeds from failings in the administration. Roger L'Estrange.

   Men who have been busied in the pursuit of the philosopher’s stone, have failed in their design. Joseph Addison, Guardian.

   9. To be deficient in duty.

   Endeavour to fulfill God’s commands, to repent as often as you fail of it, and to hope for pardon and acceptance of him. William Wake, Preparation for Death.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. fail

   Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person might consider a failure what another person considers a success, particularly in cases of direct competition or a zero-sum game. Similarly, the degree of success or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another might consider to be a success, a qualified success or a neutral situation. It may also be difficult or impossible to ascertain whether a situation meets criteria for failure or success due to ambiguous or ill-defined definition of those criteria. Finding useful and effective criteria, or heuristics, to judge the success or failure of a situation may itself be a significant task.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. fail

   Fail refers to the inability to achieve or fulfill an expected outcome, task, or objective. It implies not reaching a successful end or falling short of satisfactory performance, often resulting from a lack of effort, ability, resources, or understanding.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Failverb

   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

2. Failverb

   to be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; -- used with of

3. Failverb

   to fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink

4. Failverb

   to deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails

5. Failverb

   to perish; to die; -- used of a person

6. Failverb

   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

7. Failverb

   to come short of a result or object aimed at or desired ; to be baffled or frusrated

8. Failverb

   to err in judgment; to be mistaken

9. Failverb

   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

10. Failverb

    to be wanting to ; to be insufficient for; to disappoint; to desert

11. Failverb

    to miss of attaining; to lose

12. Failverb

    miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by failure or failing, except in the phrase without fail

13. Failverb

    death; decease

14. Etymology: [OF. faille, from failir. See Fail, v. i.]

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Fail

   fāl, n. a turf, sod.—n. Fail′-dike (Scot.), a turf-wall. [Perh. from Gael. fàl, a sod.]

2. Fail

   fāl, v.i. to fall short or be wanting (with in): to fall away: to decay: to die: to prove deficient under trial, examination, pressure, &c.: to miss: to be disappointed or baffled: to be unable to pay one's debts.—v.t. to be wanting to: not to be sufficient for: to leave undone, omit: to disappoint or desert any one:—pr.p. fail′ing; pa.p. failed.—n. (Shak.) failure.—p.adj. Failed, decayed, worn out: bankrupt.—n. Fail′ing, a fault, weakness: a foible.—prep. in default of.—n. Fail′ure, a falling short, or cessation: omission: decay: bankruptcy.—Fail of, to come short of accomplishing any purpose; Without fail, infallibly. [O. Fr. faillir—L. fallĕre, to deceive; cf. Dut. feilen, Ger. fehlen, Ice. feila.]

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Failnoun

   unsuccessful in achieving one's goal

   he failed in his attempt to secure election

   
   

   Submitted by Mememepickme on October 9, 2022  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:4.0 / 1 vote

1. FAIL

   What does FAIL stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the FAIL acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. FAIL

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Fail is ranked #30863 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Fail surname appeared 754 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Fail.
   
   82.2% or 620 total occurrences were White.
   13.4% or 101 total occurrences were Black.
   1.8% or 14 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   1.4% or 11 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.

Matched Categories

1. • Decline
   • Judge
   • Let Down

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fail' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3075

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fail' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4125

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fail' in Verbs Frequency: #139

Anagrams for fail »

1. alif

2. fila

How to pronounce fail?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say fail in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of fail in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of fail in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of fail in a Sentence

1. Warren Buffett:

   The resistance will be unbelievable, and if we fail, at least we tried.

2. Ali Akbar Velayati:

   If Assad and the Syrian people fail in their fight against Takfiri (hardline Sunni Islamist) groups..., their next target will be (Shi'ite-led) Iraq, followed by Iran.

3. Goa Kerle:

   The reason many fail to cut the tree is, they come with a knife.

4. Pramila Jayapal:

   I don't think the speaker is going to bring a bill to the floor that's going to fail, what we need is to take the temperature down a little bit.... The vote is going to drive up tensions not drive down tensions.

5. Goa Kerle:

   The world is not short of whatever you are seeking. If you fail to get it, you may have refused to master the art of getting it.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=fail
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Fail
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=fail
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fail
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fail
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=fail
8. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html