failure
Use Failure in a sentence
yər noun
1.
an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success: His effort ended in failure. The campaign was a failure.
2.
nonperformance of something due, required, or expected: a failure to do what one has promised; a failure to appear.
3.
a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency: the failure of crops.
4.
deterioration or decay, especially of vigor, strength, etc.: The failure of her health made retirement necessary.
5.
a condition of being bankrupt by reason of insolvency.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To failure
00:10
Failure
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
failure (ˈfeɪljə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the act or an instance of failing |
| 2. | a person or thing that is unsuccessful or disappointing: the evening was a failure |
| 3. | nonperformance of something required or expected: failure to attend will be punished |
| 4. | cessation of normal operation; breakdown: a power failure |
| 5. | an insufficiency or shortage: a crop failure |
| 6. | a decline or loss, as in health or strength |
| 7. | the fact of not reaching the required standard in an examination, test, course, etc |
| 8. | the act or process of becoming bankrupt or the state of being bankrupt |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
failure
1640s, failer, from Anglo-Fr. failer, from Fr. faillir (see fail). Modern form attested from 1660s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
failure fail·ure (fāl'yər)
n.
The inability to function or perform satisfactorily.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary
failure definition
The inability of a system or system component to perform a required function within specified limits. A failure may be produced when a fault is encountered.
(1996-05-13)
Example sentences
But in truth the failure was not a lack of foresight.
According to the old saying, you learn more from a failure than a success.
Predictions need a long string of success and failure to evaluate, which at this point does not exist.
It has been observed that as much, if not more, can be learned from failure as from success.
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