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Verb: fail  feyl
  1. Not do something; leave something undone
    "The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account"; "She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib";
    - neglect
     
  2. Be unsuccessful
    "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably";
    - go wrong, miscarry
     
  3. Disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake
    "His strength finally failed him"; "His children failed him in the crisis"; "His sense of smell failed him this time";
    - betray
     
  4. Stop operating or functioning
    "The engine failed on the way to town";
    - go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out [informal], go, break, break down, pack up [Brit, informal]
     
  5. Be unable
    "I fail to understand your motives"
     
  6. Judge unacceptable
    "The teacher failed six students"
     
  7. Be unsuccessful in a test, get lower than the passing grade
    "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?";
    - flunk [N. Amer, informal], bomb, flush it
     
  8. 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"
     
  9. Become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close
    "A number of banks failed that year"
     
  10. Prove insufficient
    "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought";
    - run out, give out
     
  11. Deteriorate
Noun: fail  feyl
  1. A non-passing grade in an examination or test

Derived forms: failing, failed, fails

Type of: change, decline, disappoint, evaluate, judge, let down, pass judgment, worsen

Antonym: come through, pass, pull off

Encyclopedia: Fail, Viseu