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fault definition

fault (fôlt)

noun

  1. Obsolete failure to have or do what is required; lack
  2. something that mars the appearance, character, structure, etc.; defect or failing
  3. something done wrongly; specif.,
    1. a misdeed; offense
    2. an error; mistake
  4. responsibility for something wrong; blame it's her fault that they are late
  5. Elec. a defect or point of defect in the wiring or connections of a circuit, which prevents the current from following the intended path
  6. Geol. a fracture or zone of fractures in rock strata together with movement that displaces the sides relative to one another
  7. Hunting a break in the line of the scent
  8. Volleyball, Tennis
    1. an improper serve; specif., a serve that hits the net or lands outside the court
    2. a ball improperly served

Etymology: ME faute < OFr faulte, a lack < VL *fallita < *fallitus, for L falsus: see false

transitive verb

  1. to find fault with; blame or criticize
  2. Geol. to cause a fault in

intransitive verb

  1. to commit a fault: archaic except in racket sports
  2. Geol. to develop a fault
fault Idioms

at fault

  1. unable to find the scent: said of hunting dogs
  2. not knowing what to do; perplexed
  3. guilty of error; deserving blame
    also in fault

find fault (with)

to seek and point out faults (of); complain (about); criticize

to a fault

too much; excessively

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms fault idiom

law fault definition - legal

fault Synonyms

fault

n.

  1. An imperfection

    flaw, defect, shortcoming, deficiency; see blemish, defect 2.

  2. A moral delinquency

    misdemeanor, weakness, failing, foible, vice, offense, wrongdoing, misdeed, transgression, crime, sin, impropriety, solecism, moral shortcoming, frailty, evil doing, delinquency, trespass, fall from virtue, fall from grace, loss of innocence, misconduct, dereliction, malpractice, malefaction, malfeasance, peccadillo, sins of omission and commission.

  3. An error

    blunder, mistake, lapse; see error 1.

  4. Responsibility

    liability, accountability, blame; see guilt, responsibility 2.

fault, in this comparison, refers to a definite, although not strongly condemnatory, imperfection in character her only fault is stubbornness; failing implies an even less serious shortcoming, usually a common one tardiness was one of his failings; weakness applies to a minor shortcoming that results from a lack of perfect self-control talking too much is my weakness; foible refers to a slight weakness that is regarded more as an amusing idiosyncrasy than an actual defect in character eating desserts first is one of his foibles; vice, although stronger in its implication of moral failure than any of the preceding terms, does not in this connection necessarily suggest actual depravity or wickedness gambling is his only vice

at fault

culpable, blamable, in the wrong; see guilty 2.

find fault with

complain about, carp at, criticize; see censure.

to a fault

too much, excessively, to excess; see very.


fault

v.

blame, criticize, charge, accuse; see censure.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

fault Usage Examples

Possessives

  • nobody: It's nobody's fault, it's just one of those things.

Converse of object

  • rectify: Solution Fitting a new temperature sender should rectify this fault.

Adjective modifier

  • intermittent: I was really taken aback when I discovered a relay problem causing an intermittent fault on receive!

Modifies a noun

  • tolerance: Fault tolerance: Mobile agents do not require a continuous connection between machines.

Noun used with modifier

  • segmentation: No segmentation faults, only occasional unending loops for the programmers that still hang on to program their own loops.
fault usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

fault quotes

   Un mari, comme un gouvernement, ne doit jamais avouer de faute. A husband, like a government, never needs to admit a fault.

-Balzac, Honore¤   de

You, for example, clever to a fault, The rough and ready man who write apace, Read somewhat seldomer, think perhaps even less.

-Browning, Robert

Faultless to a fault.

-Browning, Robert

fault quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"fault." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/fault>

APA Style

fault. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/fault

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