Imperative |
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fail |
fail |
Verb | 1. | fail - 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" lose track - fail to keep informed or aware; "She has so many books, she just lost track and cannot find this volume" strike out - put out or be put out by a strikeout; "Oral struck out three batters to close the inning" default, default on - fail to pay up choke - fail to perform adequately due to tension or agitation; "The team should have won hands down but choked, disappointing the coach and the audience" muff - fail to catch, as of a ball miss - fail to attend an event or activity; "I missed the concert"; "He missed school for a week" |
2. | ![]() take it on the chin - undergo failure or defeat miss - fail to reach or get to; "She missed her train" overreach - fail by aiming too high or trying too hard bobble, bodge, bollix, bollix up, botch, botch up, bumble, bungle, flub, fluff, foul up, louse up, mess up, mishandle, muck up, ball up, spoil, muff, screw up, fumble, blow - make a mess of, destroy or ruin; "I botched the dinner and we had to eat out"; "the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement" strike out - be unsuccessful in an endeavor; "The candidate struck out with his health care plan" fall - suffer defeat, failure, or ruin; "We must stand or fall"; "fall by the wayside" shipwreck - suffer failure, as in some enterprise bring home the bacon, deliver the goods, succeed, win, come through - attain success or reach a desired goal; "The enterprise succeeded"; "We succeeded in getting tickets to the show"; "she struggled to overcome her handicap and won" | |
3. | ![]() disappoint, let down - fail to meet the hopes or expectations of; "Her boyfriend let her down when he did not propose marriage" | |
4. | fail - 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" change - undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night" break - render inoperable or ineffective; "You broke the alarm clock when you took it apart!" croak, decease, die, drop dead, buy the farm, cash in one's chips, give-up the ghost, kick the bucket, pass away, perish, snuff it, pop off, expire, conk, exit, choke, go, pass - pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life; "She died from cancer"; "The children perished in the fire"; "The patient went peacefully"; "The old guy kicked the bucket at the age of 102" go down, crash - stop operating; "My computer crashed last night"; "The system goes down at least once a week" blow out, burn out, blow - melt, break, or become otherwise unusable; "The lightbulbs blew out"; "The fuse blew" misfire - fail to fire or detonate; "The guns misfired" malfunction, misfunction - fail to function or function improperly; "the coffee maker malfunctioned" | |
5. | fail - be unable; "I fail to understand your motives" | |
6. | fail - judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students" pass judgment, evaluate, judge - form a critical opinion of; "I cannot judge some works of modern art"; "How do you evaluate this grant proposal?" "We shouldn't pass judgment on other people" flunk, flush it, bomb, fail - fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?" pass - accept or judge as acceptable; "The teacher passed the student although he was weak" | |
7. | ![]() fail - 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" fail - judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students" | |
8. | fail - 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 - 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 - prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought" | |
11. | fail - get worse; "Her health is declining" |