dictionary

Please select the first letter in the word you are seeking (Example: select 'r' for 'reform').

1: 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: neglect]

2: be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably" [syn: go wrong, miscarry] [ant: succeed]

3: 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: betray]

4: 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: go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break down]

5: be unable; "I fail to understand your motives" [ant: pull off]

6: judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students" [ant: pass]

7: fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?" [syn: flunk, bomb, flush it] [ant: pass]

8: 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"

9: 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"

10: prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought" [syn: run out, give out]

11: get worse; "Her health is declining"

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