Definition

1. Verb (Intransitive):

   • To be unsuccessful in achieving a goal or passing a test: To not succeed in an attempt, examination, or endeavor.
   • To stop functioning or operating properly: To cease to work or perform as expected.
   • To weaken or decline: To diminish in strength, quality, or intensity.
   • To prove insufficient or inadequate: To be lacking or not enough when needed.

2. Verb (Transitive):

   • To judge someone as not meeting a standard: To give a student or candidate a non-passing grade.
   • To disappoint or let someone down: To not provide the expected support, help, or reliability to someone.
   • To neglect or omit to do something: To leave something required or expected undone.

Usage and Examples

• Intransitive Verb (To be unsuccessful):
  • The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably.
  • She studied hard but failed nevertheless.
• Intransitive Verb (To stop functioning):
  • The engine failed on the way to town.
  • The water supply for the town failed after a long drought.
• Intransitive Verb (To weaken):
  • Her health is declining. (Implies a failing condition)
  • His strength finally failed him.
• Transitive Verb (To judge as not passing):
  • The teacher failed six students.
  • Did I fail the test?
• Transitive Verb (To disappoint):
  • His children failed him in the crisis.
  • His sense of smell failed him this time.
• Transitive Verb (To neglect to do):
  • She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib.
  • The secretary failed to call the customer.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• "Fail to" + Verb: This structure emphasizes the omission or inability to perform a specific action.
  • I fail to understand your motives. (I am unable to understand)
  • We must not fail his obligation to the victims. (We must not neglect this duty)
• "Without fail": An adverbial phrase meaning certainly or always.
  • He arrives at 8 a.m. without fail.
• Impersonal Use: When something abstract like a memory or ability is the subject.
  • Words fail me. (I cannot find the words to express myself)
  • His memory failed him.

Variants and Related Words

• Failure (n): The fact or state of not succeeding; a lack of success.
  • The project was a complete failure.
• Failing (n): A weakness or flaw in character.
  • Pride is his greatest failing.
• Failed (adj): Having not succeeded.
  • He is a failed artist.

Synonyms

• Flop (v): To fail completely and obviously.
• Break down (v): To stop functioning (for machines).
• Collapse (v): To fail suddenly and completely.
• Neglect (v): To fail to care for or do something (emphasizing omission).

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Fail in (something): To be unsuccessful in a particular area or duty.
  • She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law.
  • The company failed in its attempt to launch a new product.
• Fail of (something): (Formal/Less common) To not achieve a purpose.
  • The plan failed of its intended effect.

Idioms and Common Phrases

• Words fail me: Used to express that one is so surprised, shocked, or emotional that one cannot speak.
  • When I saw the devastation, words failed me.
• Fail safe: A system designed to revert to a safe state if a failure occurs.
  • The nuclear reactor has multiple fail-safe mechanisms.
• A failing grade/mark: A grade that indicates a student did not pass.
  • He received a failing grade in mathematics.

Verb

1. get worse
   • Her health is declining
2. prove insufficient
   • The water supply for the town failed after a long drought
3. 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
4. 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
5. fail to get a passing grade
   • She studied hard but failed nevertheless
   • Did I fail the test?
6. judge unacceptable
   • The teacher failed six students
7. be unable
   • I fail to understand your motives
8. 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
9. 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
10. be unsuccessful
    • Where do today's public schools fail?
    • The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably
11. 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