fault

[ fawlt ]

noun

1. a defect or imperfection; flaw; failing:

   a fault in the brakes;

   a fault in one's character.

   Synonyms: shortcoming, frailty, blemish

   Antonyms: perfection, merit, strength, virtue

2. responsibility for failure or a wrongful act:

   It is my fault that we have not finished.

3. an error or mistake:

   a fault in addition.

4. a misdeed or transgression:

   to confess one's faults.

5. Sports. (in tennis, handball, etc.)
   1. a ball that when served does not land in the proper section of an opponent's court.
   2. a failure to serve the ball according to the rules, as from within a certain area.
6. Geology, Mining. a break in the continuity of a body of rock or of a vein, with dislocation along the plane of the fracture fault plane.
7. Manège. (of a horse jumping in a show) any of a number of improper executions in negotiating a jump, as a tick, knockdown, refusal, or run-out.
8. Electricity. a partial or total local failure in the insulation or continuity of a conductor or in the functioning of an electric system.
9. Hunting. a break in the line of scent; a losing of the scent; check.
10. Obsolete. lack; want.

verb (used without object)

1. to commit a fault; blunder; err.
2. Geology. to undergo faulting.

verb (used with object)

1. Geology. to cause a fault in.
2. to find fault with, blame, or censure.

fault

/ fɔːlt /

noun

1. an imperfection; failing or defect; flaw
2. a mistake or error
3. an offence; misdeed
4. responsibility for a mistake or misdeed; culpability
5. electronics a defect in a circuit, component, or line, such as a short circuit
6. geology a fracture in the earth's crust resulting in the relative displacement and loss of continuity of the rocks on either side of it
7. tennis squash badminton an invalid serve, such as one that lands outside a prescribed area
8. (in showjumping) a penalty mark given for failing to clear or refusing a fence, exceeding a time limit, etc
9. hunting an instance of the hounds losing the scent
10. deficiency; lack; want
11. at fault
    1. guilty of error; culpable
    2. perplexed
    3. (of hounds) having temporarily lost the scent
12. find fault
    to seek out minor imperfections or errors (in); carp (at)
13. to a fault
    excessively

verb

1. geology to undergo or cause to undergo a fault
2. tr to find a fault in, criticize, or blame
3. intr to commit a fault

fault

/ fôlt /

1. A fracture in a rock formation along which there has been movement of the blocks of rock on either side of the plane of fracture. Faults are caused by plate-tectonic forces.
2. See more at normal faultSee Note at earthquake

fault

1. In geology , a place where sections of the crust of the Earth move relative to each other. ( See earthquake and San Andreas fault .)

Notes

Faults tend to occur near the edges of tectonic plates .

Other Words From

• post·fault noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fault¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English faute, faulte, from Anglo-French, Middle French, from unattested Vulgar Latin fallita, noun use of feminine of unattested fallitus, for Latin falsus, past participle of fallere “to be wrong”

Word History and Origins

Origin of fault¹

C13: from Old French faute , from Vulgar Latin fallita (unattested), ultimately from Latin fallere to fail

A Closer Look

Bedrock, the solid rock just below the soil, is often cracked along surfaces known as planes. Cracks can extend up to hundreds of kilometers in length. When tensional and compressional stresses cause rocks separated by a crack to move past each other, the crack is known as a fault. Faults can be horizontal, vertical, or oblique. The movement can occur in the sudden jerks known as earthquakes. Normal faults , or tensional faults , occur when the rocks above the fault plane move down relative to the rocks below it, pulling the rocks apart. Where there is compression and folding, such as in mountainous regions, the rocks above the plane move upward relative to the rocks below the plane; these are called reverse faults. Strike-slip faults occur when shearing stress causes rocks on either side of the crack to slide parallel to the fault plane between them. Transform faults are strike-slip faults in which the crack is part of a boundary between two tectonic plates. A well-known example is the San Andreas Fault in California. Geologists use sightings of displaced outcroppings to infer the presence of faults, and they study faults to learn the history of the forces that have acted on rocks.

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. at fault,
   1. open to censure; blameworthy:

      to be at fault for a mistake.

   2. in a dilemma; puzzled:

      to be at fault as to where to go.

   3. (of hounds) unable to find the scent.
2. find fault, to seek and make known defects or flaws; complain; criticize:

   He constantly found fault with my behavior.

3. to a fault, to an extreme degree; excessively:

   She was generous to a fault.

More idioms and phrases containing fault

see at fault ; find fault ; to a fault .

Synonym Study

Fault, failing, foible, weakness, vice imply shortcomings or imperfections in a person. Fault is the common word used to refer to any of the average shortcomings of a person; when it is used, condemnation is not necessarily implied: A quick temper is her greatest fault. Foible, failing, weakness all tend to excuse the person referred to. Of these foible is the mildest, suggesting a weak point that is slight and often amusing, manifesting itself in eccentricity rather than in wrongdoing: the foibles of artists. Weakness suggests that the person in question is unable to control a particular impulse, and gives way to self-indulgence: a weakness for pretty women. Failing is closely akin to fault, except that it is particularly applied to humanity at large, suggesting common, often venial, shortcomings: Procrastination and making excuses are common failings. Vice (which may also apply to a sin in itself, apart from a person: the vice of gambling ) is the strongest term, and designates a habit that is truly detrimental or evil.

Example Sentences

The emergency pivot to remote learning for K–12 students last spring illuminated longstanding educational fault lines in the United States.

From Science News

They had definitely gone through various stages of believing it was their fault, that they were silly to have believed him.

From Vox

Throughout the scandal – and resulting budget cuts – Janney insisted the problems were not her fault and that she could steer the district back to financial stability.

From Voice of San Diego

That finding hints that CO2 rising toward Earth’s surface can change pressure along faults to trigger earthquakes, researchers report online August 26 in Science Advances.

From Science News

That said, the primary process can still reveal different fault lines in the party.

From FiveThirtyEight

For a few minutes it seemed like old times, a return to the clearer fault-lines of the Cold War.

From The Daily Beast

Race is the San Andreas Fault of our culture as well as our history.

From The Daily Beast

It seemed she echoed all the things I was telling myself—this is YOUR fault.

From The Daily Beast

Big Bird's honest reaction will emotionally wreck you in a way even The Fault in Our Stars can't.

From The Daily Beast

It distorts more and more every day of the month, every year, due to the slow effects of fault creep.

From The Daily Beast

You never cared—you were too proud to care; and when I spoke to you about my fault, you did n't even know what I meant.

From Project Gutenberg

De Robeck agrees that we don't know enough yet to warrant us in fault-finding or intervention.

From Project Gutenberg

At other times they have a dreadful look of being fibs invented for the purpose of covering a fault.

From Project Gutenberg

The French Railroads are better in this respect, and the American cannot be worse, though the fault is not unknown there.

From Project Gutenberg

At the very commencement of the campaign Massna committed a fault which almost ruined his career.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• blunder
• crime
• defect
• error
• failing
• flaw
• guilt
• indiscretion
• lapse
• liability
• misconduct
• miscue
• misdeed
• negligence
• offense
• omission
• oversight
• responsibility
• transgression
• weakness

More About Fault

What does fault mean?

A fault is a defect, flaw, or imperfection in something, as in LaShona found the fault in the code that prevented the website from working correctly.

Fault is also responsibility for a failure or wrongful act, as in It was Jason’s fault that the puppy escaped because he left the front door open.

A fault is also an error or mistake, such as a fault in a solution to a math problem.

To fault someone is to blame them for an error, as in I can’t fault my sister for wanting to be like me.

Fault is commonly used in the idioms at fault and find fault. Someone who is at fault is guilty or responsible for something and could be blamed. Someone who finds fault exposes the flaws of a person or the defects of a product.

Example: It’s not my fault that the slippery dish fell out of my hands and broke.

Where does fault come from?

The first records of the term fault come from the 1200s. It ultimately comes from the Latin fallere, meaning “to be wrong.” When someone is at fault, they are usually wrong about something or did something wrong. 

In geology, a fault is a break or crack in a stone, rock, or piece of earth. Faults can be small or large. Faults in the Earth are noteworthy because when a piece of rock attached to a fault moves or breaks, it can cause earthquakes in the surrounding area.

Did you know … ?

What are some other forms related to fault?

• postfault (noun)
• faultless (adjective)
• faulty (adjective)

What are some synonyms for fault?

• deficiency
• flaw
• imperfection
• defect
• mistake
• transgression

What are some words that share a root or word element with fault?

• fail
• failure
• faultfinder
• fault line

What are some words that often get used in discussing fault?

• behavior
• blame
• find
• guilt

How is fault used in real life?

Fault is a common word used to discuss mistakes or failures.

Is it Le’Veon or AB’s fault Steelers offense looks awful?

— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) September 9, 2019

We might have to upload tomorrow 😭 SORRY ETHAN TOLD ME TO TWEET THAT YESTERDAY ITS NOT MY FAULT

— Grayson Dolan (@GraysonDolan) August 12, 2017

 

Try using fault!

Which of the following is NOT a synonym for fault?

A. guilt
B. flaw
C. wrong
D. strength