/fawlt/ , n.
1. a defect or imperfection; flaw; failing: a fault in the brakes; a fault in one's character.
2. responsibility for failure or a wrongful act: It is my fault that we have not finished.
3. an error or mistake: a fault in addition.
4. a misdeed or transgression: to confess one's faults.
5. Sports. (in tennis, handball, etc.)
a. a ball that when served does not land in the proper section of an opponent's court.
b. a failure to serve the ball according to the rules, as from within a certain area.
6. Geol. , 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. Manège. (of a horse jumping in a show) any of a number of improper executions in negotiating a jump, as a tick, knockdown, refusal, or run-out.
8. Elect. 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. Obs. lack; want.
11. at fault ,
a. open to censure; blameworthy: to be at fault for a mistake.
b. in a dilemma; puzzled: to be at fault as to where to go.
c. (of hounds) unable to find the scent.
12. find fault , to seek and make known defects or flaws; complain; criticize: He constantly found fault with my behavior.
13. to a fault , to an extreme degree; excessively: She was generous to a fault.
v.i.
14. to commit a fault; blunder; err.
15. Geol. to undergo faulting.
v.t.
16. Geol. to cause a fault in.
17. to find fault with, blame, or censure.
[ 1250-1300; ME faute fallita, n. use of fem. of * fallitus, for L falsus, ptp. of fallere to be wrong ]
Syn. 1. blemish; frailty, shortcoming. FAULT, FAILING, FOIBLE, WEAKNESS, VICE imply shortcomings or imperfections in a person. FAULT is the common word used to refer to any of the average shortcomings of a person; when it is used, condemnation is not necessarily implied: Of his many faults the greatest is vanity. FOIBLE, FAILING, WEAKNESS all tend to excuse the person referred to. Of these FOIBLE is the mildest, suggesting a weak point that is slight and often amusing, manifesting itself in eccentricity rather than in wrongdoing: the foibles of artists.
WEAKNESS suggests that the person in question is unable to control a particular impulse, and gives way to self-indulgence: a weakness for pretty women. FAILING is closely akin to FAULT, except that it is particularly applied to humanity at large, suggesting common, often venial, shortcomings: Procrastination and making excuses are common failings. VICE (which may also apply to a sin in itself, apart from a person: the vice of gambling ) is the strongest term, and designates a habit that is truly detrimental or evil.
Ant. 1. virtue, strength, merit.