(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
The ~ of an institution, organization, or building is the person who got it started or caused it to be built, often by providing the necessary money.
He was one of the ~s of the university’s medical faculty.
N-COUNT: usu with poss
2.
If something such as a plan or project ~s, it fails because of a particular point, difficulty, or problem.
The talks have ~ed, largely because of the reluctance of some members of the government to do a deal with criminals.
= fail
VERB: V