I. ˈfȯlt, archaic ˈfȯt noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English faute, faulte, from Old French faute, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin fallita, from feminine of (assumed) Vulgar Latin fallitus, past participle of Latin fallere to deceive — more at fail
1. obsolete
a. : lack , scarcity
one it pleases me, for fault of a better, to call my friend — Shakespeare
b. : neglect , default
2. : a defeat in quality or constitution:
a. : an imperfection in character or disposition : failing , weakness ; especially : a blameworthy moral weakness less serious than a vice
b. : a physical or intellectual imperfection or impairment
a theory with some serious faults
: flaw , blemish : a damaged part
a fault in a bolt of cloth
c.
(1) : a violation of a rule in a racket game which results in loss of service or a point for the opponent or both (as a failure to serve the ball legitimately into the proper court)
(2) : a service in a racket game that strikes outside the proper service court
d. : a defective point in an electric circuit due to a crossing of wires, a ground, a break in the circuit, a failure of insulation
3. : a failure to do what is right:
a. : a moral transgression : sin
fell down at the pope's feet confessing his fault — R.W.Southern
b. : a wrongdoing of an excusable kind : misdemeanor
a small boy's faults
c. : mistake , error
a subtle fault , committed most … when we are least aware of it — S.L.Payne
d. : a failure to do something required by law or the doing of something forbidden by law — compare negligence
4.
a. : responsibility for wrongdoing or failure
it was not the driver's fault that the car went out of control
b. : the wrongdoing or failure attributable to a particular inadequacy, flaw, or failure
the accident was the fault of a broken steering rod
5. : a fracture in the earth's crust accompanied by a displacement of one side of the fracture with respect to the other and in a direction parallel to the fracture
6. : a lost scent in hunting ; also : the act of losing the scent : check
Synonyms:
failing , frailty , foible , vice : fault implies some falling short, though usually not far, of a standard of moral perfection in disposition or action
his lack of interest in theology is a weakness but not a major fault — C.H.Hopkins
there are faults which are not faults of will, but faults of mere inadequacy to some unforeseen position — J.A.Froude
a victim of many small faults of envy and spitefulness
failing implies a shortcoming, usually a weakness of character of which one may be unaware
the one failing — common to all elderly observers since Adam's hair turned gray — of imagining that the entire youth of the world is going to the dogs — Douglas Stewart
we should keep in mind the failings of resting on what seem to be our laurels and being content with an optimism grown on sheer apathy — H.A.Sosland
frailty stresses a general weakness of character or an instance of usually chronic weakness deriving from such a character
that shuddering relish for the horrors of conventions at their worst I grant to be a purely human frailty, like a fondness for detective stores — J.L.Lowes
foible usually implies a harmless weakness of character, often no more than an idiosyncrasy
to indulge on occasion in a kind of willful coquettishness hardly appropriate to her age or appearance … was the result rather of a foible than of any fundamental folly — J.W.Krutch
his dear father's one intellectual foible — that willful blindness of his to the march of time — Robert Graves
it is a foible in most decent human beings to hope that whatever our failings, at least we are not disfigured by vulgarity of spirit — Kate O'Brien
vice usually stresses violation of moral law but in this comparison can apply to any large or small imperfection or weakness of character
the great vices such as mendacity, vanity — Norbert Guterman
she was criminally proud. That was her vice — Arnold Bennett
his only vice was … an insatiable lust for power — Time
reading was his vice. How could he solace his inactive hours? — Sydney Greenbie
the great vice of English drama from Kyd to Galsworthy has been that its aim of realism was unlimited — T.S.Eliot
•
- at fault
- for fault of
- to a fault
- with all faults
[s]fault.jpg[/s] [
fault 5: 1 fault with displaced strata a, b, c, d, e; 2 scarp
]
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English fauten, from faute, n. — more at fault I
intransitive verb
1. : to commit a fault : go wrong : err , blunder
not one singer forgot a word; not a pianist faulted — Hartzell Spence
his tongue stammering and faulting with rage — Earl of Chesterfield
: fall short : fail
2. : to fracture so as to produce a geologic fault
transitive verb
1.
a. : to find a fault or flaw in
conducted himself with such calm dignity that few could fault him — Newsweek
he had been faulted by professional critics for the lack of music in his speaking of verse — Tyrone Guthrie
his arguments were logical and hard to fault — Anthony West
I fault this speech in three ways — J.E.Agate
specifically : to grade (a person or animal) down for imperfect performance or feature in a contest
the dog was faulted in stance
b. now dialect : blame , scold , censure
don't fault him for that
2. : to produce a geologic fault in ; also : to place in a particular position or shape by reason of such a fault
sediments faulted down against older rocks — Frank Dixey
— used chiefly in the passive
3. : to commit an error in : bungle
the acrobat deliberately faulted the performance once to make it look difficult