fail

[ feyl ]

verb (used without object)

1. to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved:

   The experiment failed because of poor planning.

2. to receive less than the passing grade or mark in an examination, class, or course of study:

   He failed in history.

3. to be or become deficient or lacking; be insufficient or absent; fall short:

   Our supplies failed.

4. to dwindle, pass, or die away:

   The flowers failed for lack of rain.

5. to lose strength or vigor; become weak:

   His health failed after the operation.

6. to become unable to meet or pay debts or business obligations; become insolvent or bankrupt.
7. (of a building member, structure, machine part, etc.) to break, bend, crush, or be otherwise destroyed or made useless because of an excessive load.
8. to stop functioning or operating:

   The electricity failed during the storm.

9. Slang.
   1. to make an embarrassing or humorous mistake, be in a humiliating situation, etc., and be subject to ridicule:

      Showed up late to the wedding? You fail!

   2. to be embarrassingly incompetent, stupid, etc.:

      She fails at life. I just failed at walking and fell on my face.

   3. to be bad or of inferior quality:

      The play is terrible—even the music fails.

verb (used with object)

1. to be unsuccessful in the performance or completion of:

   He failed to do his duty.

2. (of some expected or usual resource) to prove of no use or help to:

   His friends failed him. Words failed her.

3. to receive less than a passing grade or mark in:

   He failed history.

4. to declare (a person) unsuccessful in a test, course of study, etc.; give less than a passing grade to:

   The professor failed him in history.

noun

1. Slang.
   1. an embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc., that is subject to ridicule and given an exaggerated importance:

      Their app update is a massive fail.

   2. the condition or quality resulting from having failed in this way:

      His online post is full of fail.

   3. a person who fails in this way.
2. Stock Exchange.
   1. a stockbroker's inability to deliver or receive security within the required time after sale or purchase.
   2. such an undelivered security.
3. Obsolete. failure as to performance, occurrence, etc.

interjection

1. Slang.
   1. (used to mock an embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc., giving it an exaggerated importance):

      A tattoo that misspells your name? Fail!

   2. (used to indicate that something is bad or of inferior quality)

adjective

1. unsuccessful; failed:

   a totally fail policy.

2. Slang.
   1. of or noting an embarrassing or humorous mistake, humiliating situation, etc.:

      the top 100 funniest fail photos on the internet.

   2. embarrassingly incompetent, stupid, etc:

      Why am I so fail?

   3. very bad or of inferior quality.

fail

¹

/ feɪl /

verb

1. to be unsuccessful in an attempt (at something or to do something)
2. intr to stop operating or working properly

   the steering failed suddenly

3. to judge or be judged as being below the officially accepted standard required for success in (a course, examination, etc)
4. tr to prove disappointing, undependable, or useless to (someone)
5. tr to neglect or be unable (to do something)
6. intr to prove partly or completely insufficient in quantity, duration, or extent
7. intr to weaken; fade away
8. intr to go bankrupt or become insolvent

noun

1. a failure to attain the required standard, as in an examination
2. without fail
   definitely; with certainty

fail

²

/ fel /

noun

1. a turf; sod

Other Words From

• un·failed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fail¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English failen, from Anglo-French, Old French faillir, from unattested Vulgar Latin fallīre, for Latin fallere “to disappoint, deceive”

Word History and Origins

Origin of fail¹

C13: from Old French faillir , ultimately from Latin fallere to disappoint; probably related to Greek phēlos deceitful

Origin of fail²

perhaps from Scottish Gaelic fàl

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. without fail, with certainty; positively:

   I will visit you tomorrow without fail.

More idioms and phrases containing fail

see without fail ; words fail me .

Example Sentences

The Big Five banks dubbed too big to fail, are 35 percent bigger than they were when the meltdown was triggered.

From The Daily Beast

Diets not only fail to make us thinner, they also fail to make us healthier in the long term.

From The Daily Beast

Direct funds away from practices, policies, and programs that consistently fail to achieve measurable outcomes.

From The Daily Beast

These banks…are a whole lot bigger now than they were when we bailed them out in 2008 because they were too big to fail.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, everyone agrees it has simply reinscribed too big to fail as explicit law.

From The Daily Beast

It would make everyone careful, of course, but I fail to see any grievance in that.

From Project Gutenberg

Words fail to describe my feelings as I watched the clothes come off him and dry ones go on just as if hands were arranging them.

From Project Gutenberg

Who among us would fail to believe what we have, perhaps, secretly wished for in our heart of hearts?

From Project Gutenberg

I knew you would, dear Mr Brammel—a gentleman of your discretion would not fail to do so.

From Project Gutenberg

If you did fail, you would try Exclusion, and you would find nothing which is the antithesis of the area of New York.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• break
• close
• drop
• end
• finish