FAIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fail mean? 

• FAIL (verb)
  The verb FAIL has 11 senses:

1. fail to do something; leave something undone

2. be unsuccessful

3. disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake

4. stop operating or functioning

5. be unable

6. judge unacceptable

7. fail to get a passing grade

8. fall short in what is expected

9. become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close

10. prove insufficient

11. get worse

  Familiarity information: FAIL used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FAIL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fail    ... he / she / it fails   
Past simple: failed   
Past participle: failed   
-ing form: failing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fail to do something; leave something undone

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

fail; neglect

Context example:

The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fail"):

lose track (fail to keep informed or aware)

strike out (put out or be put out by a strikeout)

default; default on (fail to pay up)

choke (fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation)

muff (fail to catch, as of a ball)

miss (fail to attend an event or activity)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

failure (an unexpected omission)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be unsuccessful

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

fail; go wrong; miscarry

Context example:

The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fail"):

fall (suffer defeat, failure, or ruin)

fall flat; fall through; flop; founder (fail utterly; collapse)

shipwreck (suffer failure, as in some enterprise)

strike out (be unsuccessful in an endeavor)

ball up; blow; bobble; bodge; bollix; bollix up; bollocks; bollocks up; botch; botch up; bumble; bungle; flub; fluff; foul up; fuck up; fumble; louse up; mess up; mishandle; muck up; muff; screw up; spoil (make a mess of, destroy or ruin)

overreach (fail by aiming too high or trying too hard)

miss (fail to reach or get to)

take it on the chin (undergo failure or defeat)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Antonym:

succeed (attain success or reach a desired goal)

Derivation:

failure (an act that fails)

failure (an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose)

failure (a person with a record of failing; someone who loses consistently)

failure (lack of success)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

betray; fail

Context example:

His children failed him in the crisis

Hypernyms (to "fail" is one way to...):

disappoint; let down (fail to meet the hopes or expectations of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Stop operating or functioning

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

break; break down; conk out; die; fail; give out; give way; go; go bad

Context example:

her eyesight went after the accident

Hypernyms (to "fail" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

break (render inoperable or ineffective)

buy the farm; cash in one's chips; choke; conk; croak; decease; die; drop dead; exit; expire; give-up the ghost; go; kick the bucket; pass; pass away; perish; pop off; snuff it (pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fail"):

blow; blow out; burn out (melt, break, or become otherwise unusable)

misfire (fail to fire or detonate)

malfunction; misfunction (fail to function or function improperly)

crash; go down (stop operating)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

These cars won't fail

Derivation:

failure (loss of ability to function normally)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Be unable

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

I fail to understand your motives

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Antonym:

manage (be successful; achieve a goal)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Judge unacceptable

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

The teacher failed six students

Hypernyms (to "fail" is one way to...):

evaluate; judge; pass judgment (form a critical opinion of)

Verb group:

bomb; fail; flunk; flush it (fail to get a passing grade)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Antonym:

pass (accept or judge as acceptable)

Derivation:

failing (failure to reach a minimum required performance)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Fail to get a passing grade

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

bomb; fail; flunk; flush it

Context example:

Did I fail the test?

Verb group:

fail (fall short in what is expected)

fail (judge unacceptable)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

pass (go successfully through a test or a selection process)

Derivation:

failing (failure to reach a minimum required performance)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Fall short in what is expected

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

We must not fail his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust

Verb group:

bomb; fail; flunk; flush it (fail to get a passing grade)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

failing (a flaw or weak point)

failure (an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

A number of banks failed that year

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

failure (inability to discharge all your debts as they come due)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Prove insufficient

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

fail; give out; run out

Context example:

The water supply for the town failed after a long drought

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 11

Meaning:

Get worse

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Her health is declining

Hypernyms (to "fail" is one way to...):

decline; worsen (grow worse)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

What beats me is how they could have done so mad a thing, knowing that the lady could describe them and that we could not fail to recognize the description.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A minute later, however, when Hunter rushed out with the hound he was gone, and though he ran all round the buildings he failed to find any trace of him.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I fail to see that anyone is to blame.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Pride, observed Mary, who piqued herself upon the solidity of her reflections, is a very common failing, I believe.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He was so strong that he could not fail—if only he would drop writing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Good-bye, Mina, if I fail; good-bye, my faithful friend and second father; good-bye, all, and last of all Mina!

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

This was the first time Buck had failed, in itself a sufficient reason to drive Hal into a rage.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

You cannot fail to know that she is far below him.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He failed to pick up Bill's trail.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Idealist and romanticist that I was and always had been in spite of my analytical nature, yet I had failed till now in grasping much of the physical characteristics of love.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)