emphasis You use without fail to emphasize that something always happens. He attended every meeting without fail
If someone fails in their duty or fails in their responsibilities, they do not do everything that they have a duty or a responsibility to do. If we did not report what was happening in the country, we would be failing in our duty
If a quality or ability that you have fails you, or if it fails, it is not good enough in a particular situation to enable you to do what you want to do. For once, the artist's fertile imagination failed him Their courage failed a few steps short and they came running back
get worse; "Her health is declining" 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" prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought" 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" 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" 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 to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?" judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students" be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably" 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" be unable; "I fail to understand your motives
The failure of a seller to deliver securities to the purchaser or to a specified place of delivery as contracted
A transaction between two municipal securities brokers or dealers on which delivery does not take place on the settlement date A transaction in which a dealer has yet to deliver securities is referred to as a "fail to deliver;" a transaction in which a dealer has not yet received securities is referred to as a "fail to receive "
be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"
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"
To be negligent in ones duty. (The report fails to take into account all the mitigating factors.)
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"
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"
In a hunting test, the dog does not perform well enough against the standard to pass the test on that day Failing could be for overall marginal performance or one major disqualifying fault
If an activity, attempt, or plan fails, it is not successful. We tried to develop plans for them to get along, which all failed miserably He was afraid the revolution they had started would fail After a failed military offensive, all government troops and police were withdrawn from the island. succeed
If someone or something fails to do a particular thing that they should have done, they do not do it. Some schools fail to set any homework The bomb failed to explode