[
US
/ˈfeɪɫ/
]
[ UK /fˈeɪl/ ]
[ UK /fˈeɪl/ ]
VERB
-
get worse
Her health is declining -
be unable
I fail to understand your motives -
become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close
A number of banks failed that year
The toy company went bankrupt after the competition hired cheap Mexican labor -
judge unacceptable
The teacher failed six students -
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 -
disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake
His sense of smell failed him this time
His children failed him in the crisis
His strength finally failed him -
fail to do something; leave something undone
The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account
She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib -
fail to get a passing grade
She studied hard but failed nevertheless
Did I fail the test? -
prove insufficient
The water supply for the town failed after a long drought -
be unsuccessful
Where do today's public schools fail?
The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably -
stop operating or functioning
The engine finally went
The coffee maker broke
The engine failed on the way to town
The car died on the road
her eyesight went after the accident
The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town
How To Use fail In A Sentence
- Not bad for someone who failed to shine at school and feared he would end up in a coalyard. The Sun
- Before you know it, all the Sandy Clarks and Billy Starks doing the media rounds are back in business until the next time they are given their jotters for failing to meet fans' expectations.
- Failing to detain him could actually amount to abuse. The Sun
- ‘Of course, if you fail, and you have been put on that pedestal, it is a lot harder because you have further to fall,’ he said.
- We failed utterly to convince them.
- Another harvest has failed, and international aid agencies warn of the threat of mass starvation.
- Moreover, see whether the term rendered fail to be the genus of anything at all; for then clearly it also fails to be the genus of the species mentioned. Topics
- It is the failure of the diaphragmatic pinchcock to open, as in the normal deglutitory cycle, rather than a spasmodic tightness, that obstructs the food. Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery
- If you think you can work out a containment system where all the defense wonks have failed, have at it.
- Sometimes, when people die of heart failure, they first suffer angor animi, anguish of the soul. Times, Sunday Times
