at fault - Definitions from Dictionary.com

4 results for: at fault

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

fault

–noun

1.	a defect or imperfection; flaw; failing: a fault in the brakes; a fault in one's character.

2.	responsibility for failure or a wrongful act: It is my fault that we have not finished.

3.	an error or mistake: a fault in addition.

4.	a misdeed or transgression: to confess one's faults.

Sports. (in tennis, handball, etc.)

a.	a ball that when served does not land in the proper section of an opponent's court.

b.	a failure to serve the ball according to the rules, as from within a certain area.

6.	Geology, Mining. a break in the continuity of a body of rock or of a vein, with dislocation along the plane of the fracture (fault plane).

7.	Manège. (of a horse jumping in a show) any of a number of improper executions in negotiating a jump, as a tick, knockdown, refusal, or run-out.

8.	Electricity. a partial or total local failure in the insulation or continuity of a conductor or in the functioning of an electric system.

9.	Hunting. a break in the line of scent; a losing of the scent; check.

10.	Obsolete. lack; want.

–verb (used without object)

11.	to commit a fault; blunder; err.

12.	Geology. to undergo faulting.

–verb (used with object)

13.	Geology. to cause a fault in.

14.	to find fault with, blame, or censure.

—Idioms

15.

at fault,

a.	open to censure; blameworthy: to be at fault for a mistake.

b.	in a dilemma; puzzled: to be at fault as to where to go.

c.	(of hounds) unable to find the scent.

16.	find fault, to seek and make known defects or flaws; complain; criticize: He constantly found fault with my behavior.

17.	to a fault, to an extreme degree; excessively: She was generous to a fault.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME faute < AF, MF < VL *fallita, n. use of fem. of *fallitus, for L falsus, ptp. of fallere to be wrong

]

—Synonyms 1. blemish; frailty, shortcoming. Fault, failing, foible, weakness, vice imply shortcomings or imperfections in a person. Fault is the common word used to refer to any of the average shortcomings of a person; when it is used, condemnation is not necessarily implied: Of his many faults the greatest is vanity. Foible, failing, weakness all tend to excuse the person referred to. Of these foible is the mildest, suggesting a weak point that is slight and often amusing, manifesting itself in eccentricity rather than in wrongdoing: the foibles of artists. Weakness suggests that the person in question is unable to control a particular impulse, and gives way to self-indulgence: a weakness for pretty women. Failing is closely akin to fault, except that it is particularly applied to humanity at large, suggesting common, often venial, shortcomings: Procrastination and making excuses are common failings. Vice (which may also apply to a sin in itself, apart from a person: the vice of gambling) is the strongest term, and designates a habit that is truly detrimental or evil.

—Antonyms 1. virtue, strength, merit.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
at fault

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fault Audio Help (fôlt) Pronunciation Key

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n.

1. A character weakness, especially a minor one.
2. Something that impairs or detracts from physical perfection; a defect. See Synonyms at blemish.
3. A mistake; an error.
4. A minor offense or misdeed.
Responsibility for a mistake or an offense; culpability. See Synonyms at blame.
Geology A fracture in the continuity of a rock formation caused by a shifting or dislodging of the earth's crust, in which adjacent surfaces are displaced relative to one another and parallel to the plane of fracture. Also called shift.
Electronics A defect in a circuit or wiring caused by imperfect connections, poor insulation, grounding, or shorting.
Sports A bad service, as in tennis.
Obsolete A lack or deficiency.

v. fault·ed, fault·ing, faults

v. tr.

To find error or defect in; criticize or blame.
Geology To produce a fault in; fracture.

v. intr.

To commit a mistake or an error.
Geology To shift so as to produce a fault.

[Middle English faulte, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *fallita, from variant of Latin falsa, feminine past participle of fallere, to deceive, fail.]

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

at fault
adjective
deserving blame; "admitted to being at fault"

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
at fault

wrong or to blame
Example: She was at fault.

Arabic:	مُذِنِب، على خَطَأ، مَلوم
Chinese (Simplified):	有过错
Chinese (Traditional):	有過錯
Czech:	na omylu
Danish:	skyldig; ansvarlig
Dutch:	schuldig
Estonian:	eksinud, süüdi
Finnish:	väärässä
French:	fautif
German:	schuldig
Greek:	άδικα
Hungarian:	hibás
Icelandic:	sekur
Indonesian:	bersalah
Italian:	in fallo, colpevole

Japanese:	間違って
Latvian:	vainīgs; vainojams
Lithuanian:	kaltas, neteisus
Norwegian:	ta feil, ha skylden; klanderverdig
Polish:	w błędzie
Portuguese (Brazil):	em falta
Portuguese (Portugal):	errado, culpável
Romanian:	de vină
Russian:	виноватый
Slovak:	mýliť sa
Slovenian:	motiti se
Spanish:	tener la culpa
Swedish:	ta fel, vara skyldig
Turkish:	hatalı, kabahatli