fail
[feyl]
| 1. | to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved: The experiment failed because of poor planning. |
| 2. | to receive less than the passing grade or mark in an examination, class, or course of study: He failed in history. |
| 3. | to be or become deficient or lacking; be insufficient or absent; fall short: Our supplies failed. |
| 4. | to dwindle, pass, or die away: The flowers failed for lack of rain. |
| 5. | to lose strength or vigor; become weak: His health failed after the operation. |
| 6. | to become unable to meet or pay debts or business obligations; become insolvent or bankrupt. |
| 7. | (of a building member, structure, machine part, etc.) to break, bend, crush, or be otherwise destroyed or made useless because of an excessive load. |
| 8. | to stop functioning or operating: The electricity failed during the storm. |
| 9. | to be unsuccessful in the performance or completion of: He failed to do his duty. |
| 10. | (of some expected or usual resource) to prove of no use or help to: His friends failed him. Words failed her. |
| 11. | to receive less than a passing grade or mark in: He failed history. |
| 12. | to declare (a person) unsuccessful in a test, course of study, etc.; give less than a passing grade to: The professor failed him in history. |
| 13. | Stock Exchange.
|
| 14. | Obsolete. failure as to performance, occurrence, etc. |
| 15. | without fail, with certainty; positively: I will visit you tomorrow without fail. |
1175–1225; ME failen < AF, OF faillir < VL *fallīre, for L fallere to disappoint, deceive

Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fail
Fail\v. i. [imp. & p. p. Failed; p. pr. & vb. n. Failing.] [F. failir, fr. L. fallere, falsum, to deceive, akin to E. fall. See Fail, and cf. Fallacy, False, Fault.]1. To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence; to cease to be furnished in the usual or expected manner, or to be altogether cut off from supply; to be lacking; as, streams fail; crops fail. As the waters fail from the sea. --Job xiv. 11. Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign. --Shak. 2. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; -- used with of. If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not be attributed to their size. --Berke. 3. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink. When earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail. --Milton. 4. To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails. 5. To perish; to die; -- used of a person. [Obs.] Had the king in his last sickness failed. --Shak. 6. To be found wanting with respect to an action or a duty to be performed, a result to be secured, etc.; to miss; not to fulfill expectation. Take heed now that ye fail not to do this. --Ezra iv. 22. Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale. --Shak. 7. To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired; to be baffled or frusrated. Our envious foe hath failed. --Milton. 8. To err in judgment; to be mistaken. Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps Shall grieve him, if I fail not. --Milton. 9. To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent.Fail
Fail\, v. t. 1. To be wanting to; to be insufficient for; to disappoint; to desert. There shall not fail thee a man on the throne. --1 Kings ii. 4. 2. To miss of attaining; to lose. [R.] Though that seat of earthly bliss be failed. --Milton.Fail
Fail\, n. [OF. faille, from failir. See Fail, v. i.]1. Miscarriage; failure; deficiency; fault; -- mostly superseded by failure or failing, except in the phrase without fail. "His highness' fail of issue." --Shak. 2. Death; decease. [Obs.] --Shak.Cite This Source
fail
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Fail
A transaction that has not been settled before a deadline.
Investopedia Commentary
Presently, firms have three days after the date of a trade to settle stock transactions. Within this timeframe, securities and cash must be delivered to the clearing house for settlement. If firms are unable to meet this deadline a fail will occur.
Settlement requirements for stock, options, futures contracts, forwards, and fixed-income securities differ.
Related Links
Understanding Order Execution
The Nitty-Gritty Of Executing A Trade
Futures Fundamentals
Options Basics Tutorial
Bond Basics Tutorial
See also: Aged Fail, Clearing House, Fixed-Income Security, Forward Contract, Futures Contract, Option, SEC, Settlement Date, Trade Date
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fail
- Of or relating to a trade in which the seller does not deliver securities or the buyer does not deliver funds in the prescribed manner at the prescribed time, usually on the settlement date. Compare clear.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Main Entry: fail
Function: intransitive verb
1 : to be or become inadequate or unsuccessful esp. in fulfilling certain formal requirements
2 : to become bankrupt or insolvent transitive verb : to leave undone or neglect to do <fail to appear in court> <fail to read a contract>
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Main Entry: fail
Pronunciation: 'fA(&)l
Function: intransitive verb
1 : to weaken or lose strength
2 : to stop functioning
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fail
see without fail; words fail me.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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