Definition of 'fault'

Word Frequency

fault

(fɔːlt )

Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense faults , present participle faulting , past tense, past participle faulted

1. singular noun [with poss]

If a bad or undesirable situation is your fault, you caused it or are responsible for it.

There was no escaping the fact: it was all his fault.

A few borrowers will be in trouble with their repayments through no fault of their own.

2. countable noun

A fault is a mistake in what someone is doing or in what they have done.

It is a big fault to think that you can learn how to manage people in business school.

3. countable noun [oft poss NOUN]

A fault in someone or something is a weakness in them or something that is not perfect.

His manners had always made her blind to his faults.

...a short delay due to a minor technical fault.

Pilots were trying to repair a fault in the plane when it crashed.

For all its faults, the film presents a clear message.

Synonyms: failing, lack, weakness, defect More Synonyms of fault

4. verb

If you cannot fault someone, you cannot find any reason for criticizing them or the things that they are doing.

You can't fault them for lack of invention. [VERB noun + for]

It is hard to fault the way he runs his own operation. [VERB noun]

Synonyms: criticize, blame, complain, condemn More Synonyms of fault

5. countable noun

A fault is a large crack in the surface of the earth.

...the San Andreas Fault.

6. countable noun

A fault in tennis is a service that is wrong according to the rules.

See at fault

See to find fault with

See to a fault

More Synonyms of fault

Video: pronunciation of
fault

fault in British English

(fɔːlt )

noun

an imperfection; failing or defect; flaw

a mistake or error

an offence; misdeed

responsibility for a mistake or misdeed; culpability

5. electronics

a defect in a circuit, component, or line, such as a short circuit

6. geology

a fracture in the earth's crust resulting in the relative displacement and loss of continuity of the rocks on either side of it

7. tennis, squash, badminton

an invalid serve, such as one that lands outside a prescribed area

(in showjumping) a penalty mark given for failing to clear or refusing a fence, exceeding a time limit, etc

9. hunting

an instance of the hounds losing the scent

10.

deficiency; lack; want

11. at fault

12. find fault

13. to a fault

verb

14. geology

to undergo or cause to undergo a fault

15. (transitive)

to find a fault in, criticize, or blame

16. (intransitive)

to commit a fault

Word origin

C13: from Old French faute, from Vulgar Latin fallita (unattested), ultimately from Latin fallere to fail

Word Frequency

fault in American English

(fɔlt)

noun

a defect or imperfection; flaw; failing

a fault in the brakes

a fault in one's character

responsibility for failure or a wrongful act

It is my fault that we have not finished

an error or mistake

a fault in addition

a misdeed or transgression

to confess one's faults

5. Sport (in tennis, handball, etc.)

a ball that when served does not land in the proper section of an opponent's court

a failure to serve the ball according to the rules, as from within a certain area

6. Geology & Mining

a break in the continuity of a body of rock or of a vein, with dislocation along the plane of the fracture (fault plane).

7. (of a horse in an equestrian competition)

any of a number of improper executions in negotiating a jump, as a tick, knockdown, refusal, or run-out

8. Electricity

a partial or total local failure in the insulation or continuity of a conductor or in the functioning of an electric system

9. Hunting

a break in the line of scent; a losing of the scent; check

10. obsolete

lack; want

11. See at fault

12. See find fault

13. See to a fault

intransitive verb

14.

to commit a fault; blunder; err

15. Geology

to undergo faulting

transitive verb

16. Geology

to cause a fault in

17.

to find fault with, blame, or censure

Word origin

[1250–1300; ME faute ‹ AF, MF ‹ VL *fallita, n. use of fem. of *fallitus, for L falsus, ptp. of fallere to be wrong]

Word Frequency

fault in Electrical Engineering

(fɔlt)

Word forms: (regular plural) faults

noun

(Electrical engineering: Semiconductor and electronic circuitry)

A fault in an electrical circuit, component, or line is a defect, such as a short circuit.

In the event of a fault, the ground wire can carry enough current to blow a fuse and isolate the faulty circuit.

If the equipment has a fault and the electricity is going along the ground wire, the chances are that too much current will flow through the fuse and so the fuse gets too hot and melts.

A fault in an electrical circuit, component, or line is a defect, such as a short circuit.

fault current, fault-tolerant

Examples of 'fault' in a sentence
fault

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This is despite the delay being due to a technical fault. Police said early investigations suggested a mechanical fault was to blame.The fire was blamed on an electrical fault in the heating.It is rich with birdlife and wildlife and fault lines are evident.The onus will be on you to prove you did not cause the fault.Wood approved the lorry three weeks earlier despite finding faults. Initial reports suggested that a technical fault was to blame.If either sound is missing, you know where the fault lies.There is a lot of anger, a lot of people asking whose fault this is.It said the cost of repairing the faults it acknowledged was too low to meet its 1,500 threshold for payment.