Definition of fail

noun (n)

• Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by failure or failing, except in the phrase without fail. (noun)

  source: webster1913

verb (v)

• fail to do something; leave something undone (verb.social)

  Synonym: neglect
  

  Example:
  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.
  

  source: wordnet30
• be unsuccessful (verb.social)

  Synonym: go wrong, miscarry
  Antonym: bring home the bacon, come through, deliver the goods, succeed, win
  

  Example:
  Where do today's public schools fail?.
  The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably.
  

  source: wordnet30
• disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake (verb.emotion)

  Synonym: betray
  

  Example:
  His sense of smell failed him this time.
  His strength finally failed him.
  His children failed him in the crisis.
  

  source: wordnet30
• stop operating or functioning (verb.change)

  Synonym: break, break down, conk out, die, give out, give way, go, go bad
  

  Example:
  The engine failed on the way to town.
  

  source: wordnet30
• be unable (verb.social)

  Antonym: bring off, carry off, manage, negociate, pull off
  

  Example:
  I fail to understand your motives.
  

  source: wordnet30
• judge unacceptable (verb.social)

  Antonym: pass
  

  Example:
  The teacher failed six students.
  

  source: wordnet30
• fail to get a passing grade (verb.social)

  Synonym: bomb, flunk, flush it
  Antonym: make it, pass
  

  Example:
  She studied hard but failed nevertheless.
  Did I fail the test?.
  

  source: wordnet30
• fall short in what is expected (verb.social)

  Example:
  She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law.
  We must not fail his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust.
  

  source: wordnet30
• become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close (verb.possession)

  Example:
  A number of banks failed that year.
  

  source: wordnet30
• prove insufficient (verb.change)

  Example:
  The water supply for the town failed after a long drought.
  

  source: wordnet30
• get worse (verb.change)

  Synonym: drop away, drop off, fall away, slip, suffer
  

  source: wordnet30
• 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. (verb)

  source: webster1913
• To be wanting to ; to be insufficient for; to disappoint; to desert. (verb)

  source: webster1913

Visual Synonyms (Thesaurus)

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