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failure

[feyl-yer]

noun

an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success: His effort ended in failure. The campaign was a failure.

nonperformance of something due, required, or expected: a failure to do what one has promised; a failure to appear.

a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency: the failure of crops.

deterioration or decay, especially of vigor, strength, etc.: The failure of her health made retirement necessary.

a condition of being bankrupt by reason of insolvency.

EXPAND

a becoming insolvent or bankrupt: the failure of a bank.

a person or thing that proves unsuccessful: He is a failure in his career. The cake is a failure.

COLLAPSE

Origin:
1635–45; fail + -ure; replacing failer a (de)fault < Anglo-French (noun use of infinitive), for Old French faillir

Related forms

non·fail·ure, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To failure

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Failure is always a great word to know.

So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Example Sentences

Many different medications are used in the treatment of heart failure.

It has been observed that as much, if not more, can be learned from failure as from success.

Failure is really too kind a word for this squalid mess.

EXPAND

Many different medications are used in the treatment of heart failure.

It has been observed that as much, if not more, can be learned from failure as from success.

Failure is really too kind a word for this squalid mess.

Don't let a computer failure destroy your precious memories.

It's not failure that causes confidence issues, it's one's response to failure.

Congestive heart failure could become a reversible condition.

By this failure everybody might have starved, and indeed half died with three months.

Their failure was the answer to a different question.

What is creeping into the culture is simple dehumanization, a failure to imagine the lives others lead.

Incomplete applications or failure to attach all unofficial transcripts will not be considered.

The global trade talks have collapsed because the world's biggest economies prefer failure to compromise.

The newborn bucardo died of respiratory failure immediately after birth.

We're not going to have any search for scapegoats the final responsibilities of any failure are mine, and mine alone.

But they do explain which brain diseases can be detected by the failure to understand sarcasm.

Failure to comply with this deadline may result in forfeiture of the prize and selection of an alternate winner.

And this has created a new relationship with failure.

End-stage kidney disease is the complete, or almost complete failure of the kidneys to function.

Not pursuing an academic career can be seen as settling for second best, if not downright failure.

One rule of thumb might be when the systemic consequences of a failure are smaller than the cost of a bail-out.

Predictions need a long string of success and failure to evaluate, which at this point does not exist.

It is expensive and hazardous sending workers out to off-shore wind farms for repairs when there is a mechanical failure.

We must figure this one out--there is no room for failure.

Failure to submit the required transcripts and application will disqualify you from consideration for this position.

Let regulators ensure that the costs of failure are borne by those who made bad bets.

Failure to remove the vertical columns will absolutely slow the speed of the collapse.

Failure of a promising compound casts a shadow on others.

Evidence that such conclusions worked in his favor could be found in the failure of his opponent to bring up torture as an issue.

Ingesting any part of this plant can lead to heart failure.

Researchers stave off premature heart failure in mice with genetic disorder.

The repeated cycles of progression and failure of human civilization are slowly being revealed.

System, the futuristic software is meant to help keep damaged planes flying right even in the face of catastrophic failure.

SynCardia's technology is one of a few available to people suffering from heart failure.

Phillips is concerned that the results could lead to complacency and a failure to address the causes of global warming.

The consequences of a failure in nuclear reactors are higher than with many other ventures.

According to the old saying, you learn more from a failure than a success.

Something between a fudge and a failure would be more accurate.

The primary cause of organ transplant failure is rejection of the graft organ by the host.

There are more factories churning out batteries than cars or other devices to put them in, suggesting future failure.

Many factors contributed to the failure of a car that was not, technically, a failure.

Doctors can often make a preliminary diagnosis of heart failure by medical history and careful physical examination.

But even if he had not made this idiotic mistake, his life would have been tinged with failure.

Scientists inject fetal cells into heart failure patients for the first time, leading to dramatic signs of recovery.

Heart failure has many causes and can evolve in different ways.

But a failure only becomes a mistake if you don't learn from it.

One is to solve a significant market failure in the private sector.

Finding explains failure of drugs that target host vasculature.

Our leaders' failure to learn from history is a cautionary tale.

It is similar to the structural failure a bridge can experience as vibrations increase.

They pronounce it a failure simply because in its early stages a certain dependence is.

Failure to organize, failure to balance her budget, and failure to oversee a viable pension fund.

Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner.

What they got, allegedly, was a big intelligence failure.

O'Connor on the latest in heart failure research and treatments.

The failure caused the cabin to lose pressure instantly and the oxygen masks to deploy.

Sadly my beautiful girl died from heart failure years ago.

The failure of captive breeding meant that cheetah fanciers had to replenish their supply with wild ones.

Until then, the use of a cluster bomb with a higher failure rate must be approved by regional commanders.

Right-sided heart failure is a condition in which the right side of the heart loses its ability to pump blood efficiently.

Its failure to do so, though, has left the politics of climate floundering.

Instead, they remind us of the hot sting of shame, failure and defeat.

Many specialists link the significant increase in heart failure cases to improved heart attack care.

Such a failure of imagination has been at the heart of the debate about climate change.

Wright recounted that a providential electricity failure may have saved a collection of cylinder seals about to be looted.

But in truth the failure was not a lack of foresight.

Federal stimulus packages are inherently flawed and doomed for failure.

Audience boredom is usually a content failure, not a decoration failure.

His primary object was to investigate the failure of the.

In some ways, the cooling system failure couldn't have happened at a better time, mission managers noted.

Failure to meet that challenge would halt the progress of miniaturization and higher performance.

Neurotoxins target the nervous system, paralyzing the muscles, leading to heart failure and suffocation.

Stresses caused by thermal cycling can lead to failure.

The vast rise in public debt and failure of public leaders to control public debt.

Any slight change in wind speed or air pressure can result in a failure to launch.

But decades of effort met with one failure after another.

Her professional career began to suffer as a result of her public intoxication as well as her failure to show up to performances.

Ultimately there will be a failure of all preconceived systems.

Failure to provide such releases upon request may result in disqualification of contestant and the related entry.

The failure of internet and personal computer security is a failure of design.

They say failure to use filtration can result in permanent eye damage or even blindness.

He even produces a graph to demonstrate why failure is all but inevitable.

These same potent medicines can cause liver damage or failure if not closely monitored.

In anorexia, death from organ failure or myocardial infarction is fairly common.

Still, his fans continued to adore and support him-even when his drug use caused tardiness or a failure to appear at concerts.

Ultimately, that will lower the cost of failure and that will lower the cost of drugs brought to market".

The largest study ever done on heart failure has found that a promising drug is not dangerous, as had been feared.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

failure (ˈfeɪljə)

—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
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

failure

1640s, failer, from Anglo-Fr. failer, from Fr. faillir (see fail). Modern form attested from 1660s.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

failure fail·ure (fāl'yər)
n.
The inability to function or perform satisfactorily.

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)

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"There have been others also just as true and devoted to the cause—I wish I could name every one—but with such women consecrating their lives, failure is impossible!"

-Susan B. Anthony

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