Noun
- 1. failing, weakness, imperfection, imperfectness
- usage: a flaw or weak point; "he was quick to point out his wife's failings"
- 2. failing, flunk, failure
- usage: failure to reach a minimum required performance; "his failing the course led to his disqualification"; "he got two flunks on his report"
Verb
- 1. fail, neglect
- usage: 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. fail, go wrong, miscarry
- usage: be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"
- 3. fail, betray, disappoint, let down
- usage: 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. fail, go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go, break, break down, change
- usage: 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"
- 5. fail
- usage: be unable; "I fail to understand your motives"
- 6. fail, evaluate, pass judgment, judge
- usage: judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students"
- 7. fail, flunk, bomb, flush it
- usage: fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?"
- 8. fail
- usage: 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. fail
- usage: 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"
- 10. fail, run out, give out
- usage: prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought"
- 11. fail, worsen, decline
- usage: get worse; "Her health is declining"
Adjective
- 1. failing, unsatisfactory (vs. satisfactory)
- usage: below acceptable in performance; "received failing grades"
WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University.
All rights reserved.Definition and meaning of failing (Dictionary)