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more about fail
fail |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Fail \Fail\v. 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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Fail \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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Fail \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 Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by failure or failing, except in the phrase without fail ``His highness' fail of issue.''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. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: fail v 1: 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" [syn: {neglect}] 2: be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt tp rescue the hostages failed miserably" [syn: {go wrong}, {miscarry}] [ant: {succeed}] 3: 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" [syn: {betray}] 4: 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 coffe maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town" [syn: {give way}, {die}, {give out}, {conk out}, {go}, {break}, {break down}] 5: be unable; "I fail to understand your motives" [ant: {pull off}] 6: judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students" [ant: {pass}] 7: fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?" [syn: {flunk}, {bomb}, {flush it}] [ant: {pass}] 8: fall short in what is expected; "She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law" 9: 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: prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought" [syn: {run out}, {give out}] 11: get worse; "Her health is declining"
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