fail

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Verb 1.2.1.1 Usage notes 1.2.1.2 Synonyms 1.2.1.3 Antonyms 1.2.1.4 Derived terms 1.2.1.5 Translations 1.2.2 Noun 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Noun 1.3.2 Interjection 1.3.2.1 Derived terms 1.3.2.2 Antonyms 1.3.2.3 Usage notes 1.3.2.4 References 1.4 External links 1.5 Anagrams 2 Irish 2.1 Pronunciation 2.2 Etymology 2.3 Noun 2.3.1 Declension

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -eɪl

[edit] Etymology 1

This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

From Middle English < Old French faillir < Latin fallere (“‘to deceive, disappoint’”).

[edit] Verb

to fail (third-person singular simple present fails, present participle failing, simple past and past participle failed)

1. (intransitive) To be unsuccessful.

   Throughout my life, I have always failed.

2. (transitive) Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.)

   The engine failed to start.

3. (transitive) To neglect.

   The report fails to take into account all the mitigating factors.

4. (intransitive, of a machine, etc.) To cease to operate correctly.

   After running five minutes, the engine failed.

5. (intransitive) To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits.

   I failed in English last year.

6. (transitive) To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour.

   The professor failed me because I did not complete any of the course assignments.

7. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (slang) To be unskilled

[edit] Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb which takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

[edit] Synonyms

• (to be unsuccessful): fall on one's face

[edit] Antonyms

• (to be unsuccessful): succeed

[edit] Derived terms

• failure
• fail-safe

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

fail (plural fails)

1. a failure, especially of a financial transaction
2. a failing grade in an academic examination

[edit] Etymology 2

This term originated on the Internet and was popularized by the website Fail Blog.

[edit] Noun

fail (plural fails)

1. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) An action or item which can easily be mocked due to its ludicrous nature alluding to stupidity on the part of its creator.

   Hey look! That huge sign's spelt wrong and it's a bloody school! What a fail!

[edit] Interjection

fail

1. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Spoken to express humour, especially in the form of schadenfreude, when the above fail has been committed.

   Uh oh, watch out for that chair! / Aaargh!!! / :Hah! Fail!

[edit] Derived terms

• epic fail

[edit] Antonyms

• win

[edit] Usage notes

Often written in capital letters as “FAIL”.

[edit] References

• Epic Win: Goodbye, schadenfreude; hello, fail, by Christopher Beam

[edit] External links

• fail in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• fail in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• fail at OneLook® Dictionary Search

[edit] Anagrams

• Alphagram: afil
• alif
• fila

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[edit] Irish

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: [fˠalʲ]

[edit] Etymology

From Old Irish foil, from Proto-Celtic *vali-, from Proto-Indo-European *wel-. Cognates include Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (helix), “‘something twisted’”).

[edit] Noun

fail f.

1. ring
2. bracelet
3. wreath
4. sty

[edit] Declension

Second declension

Bare forms Case Singular Plural Nominative fail faileanna Vocative a fhail a fhaileanna Genitive faile faileanna Dative fail faileanna

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Plural Nominative an fhail na faileanna Genitive na faile na bhfaileanna Dative leis an bhfail don fhail leis na faileanna

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
fail	fhail	bhfail
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.