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failure

[ feyl-yer ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an act or instance of failing fail or proving unsuccessful; lack of success:
His effort ended in failure.
The campaign was a failure.
nonperformance of something due, required, or expected:
a failure to do what one has promised;
a failure to appear.
a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency:
the failure of crops.
deterioration or decay, especially of vigor, strength, etc.:
The failure of her health made retirement necessary.
a condition of being bankrupt by reason of insolvency.
a becoming insolvent or bankrupt:
the failure of a bank.
a person or thing that proves unsuccessful:
He is a failure in his career.
The cake is a failure.

failure

/ ˈ�ڱ�ɪ��ə /

noun

the act or an instance of failing
a person or thing that is unsuccessful or disappointing
the evening was a failure
nonperformance of something required or expected
failure to attend will be punished
cessation of normal operation; breakdown
a power failure
an insufficiency or shortage
a crop failure
a decline or loss, as in health or strength
the fact of not reaching the required standard in an examination, test, course, etc
the act or process of becoming bankrupt or the state of being bankrupt

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Other Word Forms

�Դǲ�·�ڲ��u�� noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of failure¹

First recorded in 1635–45; fail + -ure; replacing failer “a fault, default,” from Anglo-French (noun use of infinitive), for Old French faillir

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Baroness Brown highlights the case of Guy's and St Thomas', the biggest hospital trust in London, which was hit by a failure to its data centres during the extreme heat of July 2022.

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Tens of thousands of Los Angeles County workers walked off their jobs and onto picket lines Tuesday, amid what their union described as a failure by the county to fairly bargain for a new contract.

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Experts told the BBC it was likely caused by several failures.

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As life in Spain and Portugal stutters back to normal, the big questions are not just what went wrong but how to prevent such a full-scale power failure from happening again.

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But it had confirmed it was holding Mr Nassasra during a briefing on an internal inquiry into the attack, which identified "several professional failures".

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Related Words

failson fain

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