Failure
['feɪljə] or ['feljɚ]
Definition
(noun.) an unexpected omission; 'he resented my failure to return his call'; 'the mechanic's failure to check the brakes'.
(noun.) an act that fails; 'his failure to pass the test'.
(noun.) an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose; 'the surprise party was a complete failure'.
(noun.) a person with a record of failing; someone who loses consistently.
(noun.) loss of ability to function normally; 'kidney failure'.
(noun.) lack of success; 'he felt that his entire life had been a failure'; 'that year there was a crop failure'.
Editor: Mervin--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Cessation of supply, or total defect; a failing; deficiency; as, failure of rain; failure of crops.
(n.) Omission; nonperformance; as, the failure to keep a promise.
(n.) Want of success; the state of having failed.
(n.) Decay, or defect from decay; deterioration; as, the failure of memory or of sight.
(n.) A becoming insolvent; bankruptcy; suspension of payment; as, failure in business.
(n.) A failing; a slight fault.
Checker: Sophia
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Deficiency, defectiveness, shortcoming.[2]. Omission, neglect, FAIL, non-performance, non-observance.[3]. Miscarriage, botch, ill success, flash in the pan, labor for one's pains, losing game, wild-goose chase, sleeveless errand.[4]. Insolvency, bankruptcy, suspension of payment.[5]. Decay, decline, declension, loss.
Edited by Christine
Unserious Contents or Definition
For a lover, this is sometimes of contrary significance. To dream that he fails in his suit, signifies that he only needs more masterfulness and energy in his daring, as he has already the love and esteem of his sweetheart. (Contrary dreams are those in which the dreamer suffers fear, and not injury.) For a young woman to dream that her life is going to be a failure, denotes that she is not applying her opportunities to good advantage. For a business man to dream that he has made a failure, forebodes loss and bad management, which should be corrected, or failure threatens to materialize in earnest.
Edited by Brent
Unserious Contents or Definition
The quickest method known for making money.
Checker: Wayne
Examples
- Take all the praise, take all the blame; take all the success, take all the failure; in short, take me. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- It might be for a day or for two days, but I must be lost sight of on landing, or there would be recognition, anticipation, and failure. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Their failure to agree c aused the observer to reject one and mark the other as doubtful. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- It's the failure to live that makes one ill, and humiliates one. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Could I look at my failure from no truer point of view than this? Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The curse is laid upon them of being and doing what it approves, and when they attempt first principles the failure is ludicrous. Plato. The Republic.
- The success is not mine, the failure is not mine, but the two together make me. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- This proving a failure, he, in 1830, turned his attention to the improvement of rubber goods. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Then our comrade, always a shrewd businessman, offered to take the whole cargo at thirty days, but that little financial scheme was a failure. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- The Florentine militia he created was a complete failure. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- While failure is sometimes the outcome of the water-finder’s attempts, success as often and, indeed, according to the testimony of Professor Barrett, more often crowns his efforts. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- No intelligent man can tell of this process or read of this process of failure without very mingled feelings. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Of course the assault was a failure, and of course the loss on our side was great for the number of men engaged. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- The Wilmington expedition has proven a gross and culpable failure. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- It has been tried many times by other daughters, Minnie; it has never succeeded; nothing has ever come of it but failure. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- The word demagogue has been frightfully maltreated in late years, but surely here is its real meaning--to flatter the people by telling them that their failures are somebody else's fault. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Both efforts were failures and were not renewed. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Has the difficulty grown easier because of so many failures? Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Book after book was added to the heap of failures, Miss Murdstone being firmly watchful of us all the time. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Somebody must be responsible for their failures. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Fantastic failures of journeys occupied me until the day dawned and the birds were singing. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- All these failures would have been very discouraging if I had expected much from the efforts; but I had not. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Many were the complaints below, and great the chagrin of the head cook at her failures. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Hence, Antietam, Gettysburg, and all the other battles that had been fought, were by them set down as failures on our part, and victories for them. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- I had a hard time, Jo, and shed a good many bitter tears over my failures, for in spite of my efforts I never seemed to get on. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- His many failures caused his friends to forsake him and he was put in prison for not paying his debts. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- These contests served to bring out the failures, and the still-existing wants in this line of machinery. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- I had reason to believe that in accomplishing these failures we incurred a far greater expense than if we had achieved a series of triumphs. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The attempts of theorists to explain man's successes as rational acts and his failures as lapses of reason have always ended in a dismal and misty unreality. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Many startling successes and a few unavoidable failures were the outcome of this long period of continuous work. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
Inputed by Darlene