fail /feɪl/
1. 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"
2. be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"
synset: fail, go_wrong, miscarry
antonym: succeed, win, come_through, bring_home_the_bacon, deliver_the_goods
3. 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"
4. 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"
synset: fail, go_bad, give_way, die, give_out, conk_out, go, break, break_down
5. be unable; "I fail to understand your motives"
synset: fail
antonym: pull_off, negociate, bring_off, carry_off, manage
6. judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students"
synset: fail
7. fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?"
synset: fail, flunk, 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"
synset: fail
9. 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"
synset: fail
10. prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought"
synset: fail, run_out, give_out
11. get worse; "Her health is declining"
synset: fail
Princeton University "About WordNet." WordNet. Princeton University. 2010.
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