'Fail' definitions:

Definition of 'fail'

From: WordNet
verb
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: fail, neglect]
verb
Be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably" [syn: fail, go wrong, miscarry] [ant: bring home the bacon, come through, deliver the goods, succeed, win]
verb
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: fail, betray]
verb
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" [syn: fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break down]
verb
Be unable; "I fail to understand your motives" [ant: bring off, carry off, manage, negociate, pull off]
verb
Judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students" [ant: pass]
verb
Fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?" [syn: fail, flunk, bomb, flush it] [ant: make it, pass]
verb
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"
verb
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"
verb
Prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought" [syn: fail, run out, give out]
verb
Get worse; "Her health is declining"

Definition of 'Fail'

From: GCIDE
  • 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 Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by failure or failing, except in the phrase without fail.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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Death; decease. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Fail'

From: GCIDE
  • Fail \Fail\ (f[=a]l) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Failed (f[=a]ld); 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. [1913 Webster]
  • As the waters fail from the sea. --Job xiv. 11. [1913 Webster]
  • Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; -- used with of. [1913 Webster]
  • If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not be attributed to their size. --Berke. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink. [1913 Webster]
  • When earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To perish; to die; -- used of a person. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Had the king in his last sickness failed. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Take heed now that ye fail not to do this. --Ezra iv. 22. [1913 Webster]
  • Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired; to be baffled or frusrated. [1913 Webster]
  • Our envious foe hath failed. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. To err in judgment; to be mistaken. [1913 Webster]
  • Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps Shall grieve him, if I fail not. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 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; as, many credit unions failed in the late 1980's. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Fail'

From: GCIDE
  • Fail \Fail\, v. t.
  • 1. To be wanting to; to be insufficient for; to disappoint; to desert. [1913 Webster]
  • There shall not fail thee a man on the throne. --1 Kings ii. 4. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To miss of attaining; to lose. [R.] [1913 Webster]
  • Though that seat of earthly bliss be failed. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'fail'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Fail'