failure
Americannoun
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an act or instance of failing fail or proving unsuccessful; lack of success.
His effort ended in failure.
The campaign was a failure.
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nonperformance of something due, required, or expected.
a failure to do what one has promised;
a failure to appear.
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a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency.
the failure of crops.
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deterioration or decay, especially of vigor, strength, etc..
The failure of her health made retirement necessary.
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a condition of being bankrupt by reason of insolvency.
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a becoming insolvent or bankrupt.
the failure of a bank.
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a person or thing that proves unsuccessful.
He is a failure in his career.
The cake is a failure.
noun
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the act or an instance of failing
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a person or thing that is unsuccessful or disappointing
the evening was a failure
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nonperformance of something required or expected
failure to attend will be punished
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cessation of normal operation; breakdown
a power failure
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an insufficiency or shortage
a crop failure
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a decline or loss, as in health or strength
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the fact of not reaching the required standard in an examination, test, course, etc
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the act or process of becoming bankrupt or the state of being bankrupt
Other Word Forms
- nonfailure noun
Etymology
Origin of failure
First recorded in 1635–45; fail + -ure; replacing failer “a fault, default,” from Anglo-French (noun use of infinitive), for Old French faillir
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Amy is now at risk of bowel obstruction and possible kidney failure and is considered an urgent case but remains stuck on a surgery waiting list and feels like she has been "left to rot".
From BBC
This didn’t spare her from being tagged with border failures.
I’d come all the way to Mongolia, and now I wasn’t going to be able to finish this race because of a stupid equipment failure?
Ercot has estimated that if it lost more than about 2,600 megawatts of demand at once, the system would be at risk of failure.
Earlier this campaign, failure to get there was looking a distinct possibility after a string of poor results, a falling-out with talisman Mohamed Salah and an injury to record signing Alexander Isak.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
