I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a business collapses/fails (= stops operating )
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35% of small businesses fail in the first year of operation.
a company fails (= goes bankrupt )
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His audio equipment company failed in the mid 1980s.
a crop fails (= does not grow or produce food properly )
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The drought meant the crops failed and food was scarce.
a failed/broken marriage
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After two failed marriages, she was not willing to risk marrying again.
a system breaks down/fails
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An alarm sounds a warning before the system breaks down.
a system fails/breaks down
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If your immune system breaks down, you will be vulnerable to infections.
an appeal fails/succeeds
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If the appeal fails, he will serve his full sentence.
an attempt fails/succeeds
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All attempts to find a cure have failed.
an attempted/abortive/failed coup (= one that did not succeed )
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There was an attempted coup against Togo’s military dictator.
brakes fail (= do not work when you use them )
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Going down the mountain I was afraid the brakes might fail.
fail a test ( also flunk a test American English informal )
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He failed the test and had to take it again.
fail an exam
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If you fail the exam, you can retake it.
fail an examination
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Michael had never yet failed an examination.
fail an inspection
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He couldn’t join the army because he failed the medical inspection.
fail in your duty (= not do something that you should do )
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I would be failing in my duty if I didn't warn you of the dangers.
failed to materialize
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The money we had been promised failed to materialize .
failing health (= when someone is becoming more ill )
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Despite failing health, he travelled to Australia to visit his son.
failing sight (= becoming worse )
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He ran the business until failing sight forced him to retire.
failing
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In his later years, he suffered from failing eyesight.
fail/neglect/omit to mention sth (= deliberately not mention something )
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I omitted to mention that I had not been to university.
fail/succeed in your attempt
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He failed in his attempt to set a new Olympic record.
pass/fail a course
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If you pass the course, you get a diploma in psychology.
sb's eyesight fails
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He's over 80 now, and his eyesight is beginning to fail.
sb's nerve fails (him/her) (= someone suddenly loses the courage or confidence to do something )
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At the last moment, her nerve failed her.
sb’s courage fails (= is not great enough to do something )
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I was going to jump but my courage failed at the last moment.
sb’s powers are failing/waning (= becoming less good )
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Mark felt that his creative powers were waning.
sb’s sight fails (= gets much worse )
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He was in his seventies when his sight began to fail.
signally failed
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The government has signally failed to deal with the problem.
the harvest fails (= there are no crops or only poor crops )
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The potato harvest failed that year.
try/manage/fail to persuade sb
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I’m trying to persuade your dad to buy some shares.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
miserably
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I had failed miserably to give my readers a true picture of the visual delights awaiting those who followed in my footsteps.
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But he failed miserably in getting lawmakers to pass offsetting spending cuts, aggravating two decades of deficits.
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The barriers are clear enough, what remains unclear is why some people are able to surmount them when others fail miserably .
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He had tried farming and publishing and failed miserably at both.
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But back home his colleagues at Eaton Park failed miserably .
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School-to-work must reflect business priorities and will fail miserably without business participation.
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Attempts to create vehicles of left-wing opinion have not succeeded; both the News-on-Sunday and the East End News failed miserably .
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A handful of dramas make the grade but the sitcoms are failing miserably .
never
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For all his weaknesses and crimes, Mobutu's sense of national unity never failed him.
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A young man who never failed , failing.
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And why does the process never fail ?
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He redistributed clumps of parsley a garnish that for some reason never failed to be available in the markets.
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I never fail to remember on the day of the year when I was made a priest.
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This mime of his never failed to invoke my deep defensiveness with regard to all things Kip.
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Procris had given Cephalus a javelin that never failed to strike what it was aimed at.
■ NOUN
attempt
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However, though much gets through, many attempts fail .
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The first attempts failed , but with collaboration from Hebb and others, successful adaptations were made.
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While past cease-fires and attempts at disarmament have failed , the current peace process has gone relatively smoothly.
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But also once again a friend intervened, wrestling the gun away from him, and the attempt failed .
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If this attempt fails , the procedure does not process this module any further.
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Barzel's attempt failed by two votes and there were accusations of bribery being used to achieve the result.
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Seismologists throughout the world have searched for such a precursor for more than 100 years but their attempts have failed .
duty
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I would be failing in my duty if I allowed him such undeserved relief.
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You failed to do your duty as a soldier and succeeded in overthrowing the most legitimate government the nation has ever had.
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Where the unions fail in their duties to black workers they must be challenged to stand up for their rights.
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Phipps also performed well, but spoiled his record by failing to report for duty on two occasions.
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Greenpeace claim that the Authority is failing in its statutory duty to gather the necessary evidence to enforce the law.
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The Board dismissed him for allegedly failing in his duties to teach junior doctors.
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Lap Karen McCafferty, 17, was punished when she failed to memorise duty procedures.
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He had certainly been failing in his duty towards Dimity.
test
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How many people do you know who failed their first driving test ?
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The man fails with the test !
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Is a child who fails a year test to be kept down?
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But the Legislature went on to fail a big test in the mid- 1970s.
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Pritchard failed a roadside breath test which recorded 151 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
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Gentry was stopped May 26, 1995, for weaving and failed a roadside sobriety test .
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Rolle, alas, must fail this test .
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Again he failed a sobriety test .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a failed actor/writer etc
failing that/this
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A few hours of oblivion probably, but failing that, Faber.
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And failing that, have you ever thought of joining a club for single people?
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Every failing that we pointed out has since proved to exist: those failings have emerged every year since its implementation.
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I would prefer to go in the kop, but failing that I'd like to try the new East stand.
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It's financial clout that counts or, failing that, kicking up a stink.
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Look for lush foliage or, failing that, avoid wilted plants or plants with leaves that are starting to brown.
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She is determined to make the girls hate losing, or failing that, hate the consequences of losing.
words fail me
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Just look at this mess. Look at it. It's...\#Words fail me!
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To get off a train with a total stranger ... I really can not ... well, words fail me.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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''How did you do in accountancy?'' ''I failed''.
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"How did Chris do in his driving test?" "He failed."
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A large number of businesses failed when interest rates rose.
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A very high percentage of small businesses fail within their first year.
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Across the state, corn crops failed due to the drought.
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Having failed to find her friend, she decided to return home.
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His heart failed and there was nothing we could do to save him.
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I failed my math test.
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I failed to convince him that I was right.
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If I fail my driving test again, I'm going to give up.
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If they were trying to put us out of business, they have failed completely.
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If your marriage fails it can be difficult to make a new start in life.
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In the last ten minutes of the game, one of the television cameras failed.
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Jonathan failed his law exams at the end of the year.
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Many of the boys in the program had been failing at school.
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Millions of people have tried to quit smoking and failed miserably.
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My attempt to lose weight failed completely.
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One of the engines failed at 30,000 feet.
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Our plan to go into business failed when the bank refused to lend us enough money.
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Peace talks between the two countries have failed.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Cal and Stanford so far have tried, and failed, to sweep the Washington road trip.
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Imprisonment is a harsh measure that should be used only when every other reasonable avenue has failed.
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It has failed to maintain the civilization to which he has given his life as a man.
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Marriages can fail , and divorce is sometimes necessary.
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What he fails to add is that nowadays information is as leaky as a fistful of sand.
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When it came up for a vote in the House, the amendment failed.
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Yet he failed to subvert even his vulnerable neighbour.
II. noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Company failures have led to massive job losses.
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Investigators traced the cause of the crash to engine failure.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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He believes that if a starter has major-league talent, nothing matters more than taking the ball every five days without fail .
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He writes every week without fail .