fail

Definitions

1. 1intransitive verb

   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. 2intransitive verb

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

3. 3intransitive verb

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

4. 4intransitive verb

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

5. 5intransitive verb

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

6. 6intransitive verb

   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. 7intransitive verb

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

8. 8intransitive verb

   To err in judgment; to be mistaken.

9. 9intransitive 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.

10. 10transitive verb

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

11. 11transitive verb

    To miss of attaining; to lose.

12. 12intransitive verb

    Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by failure or failing, except in the phrase without fail.

13. 13intransitive verb

    Death; decease.

14. 14verb

    get worse

    "Her health is declining"

15. 15verb

    stop operating or functioning

    "The engine finally went"

    "The car died on the road"

    Synonyms

    breakdiego
16. 16verb

    prove insufficient

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

17. 17verb

    disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake

    "His sense of smell failed him this time"

    "His strength finally failed him"

    Synonyms

    betray
18. 18verb

    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"

19. 19verb

    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"

20. 20verb

    fail to get a passing grade

    "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"

    "Did I fail the test?"

    Synonyms

    bombflunk
21. 21verb

    judge unacceptable

    "The teacher failed six students"

22. 22verb

    be unsuccessful

    "Where do today's public schools fail?"

    "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"

    Synonyms

    miscarry
23. 23verb

    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"

    Synonyms

    neglect
24. 24verb

    be unable

    "I fail to understand your motives"