Pronunciation of fail: F EY1 L (feɪl)
Number of syllables of fail: 1
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Definition of fail
- (v): get worse; "Her health is declining"
- (v): stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident"
- (v): prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought"
- (v): disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake; "His sense of smell failed him this time"; "His strength finally failed him"; "His children failed him in the crisis"
- (v): become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close; "The toy company went bankrupt after the competition hired cheap Mexican labor"; "A number of banks failed that year"
- (v): 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"
- (v): fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?"
- (v): judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students"
- (v): be unsuccessful; "Where do today''s public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"
- (v): fail to do something; leave something undone; "She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib"; "The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account"
- (v): be unable; "I fail to understand your motives"
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Examples of fail
- I fail to see the relevance of the transcript.
- I fail to see the purpose of his contrary impatience.
- His attempts fail and cause the exterminator to commit suicide.
- I fail to understand the necessity of the block.
- Another fail would be a demerit to the article.
- The vainly resulted him to fail.
- The header is fail, to put it bluntly.
- Both of the children fail their matriculation.
- These features fail to obtrude.
- The rest fail to divide, fail to implant, or miscarry.