failure

noun
/ˈfeɪ.ljə/UK/ˈfeɪ.ljəɹ/CA/ˈfel(ɪ)jə(r)/

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman failer, from Old French faillir (“to fail”). Equivalent to fail + -ure.

  1. derived from faillir
  2. derived from failer

Definitions

  1. State or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, opposite of success.

    • For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places.
    • Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.
    • What exactly is a "successful failure" in rocket science? A so-called "successful failure" is one where important lessons can be gleaned for future tests and where the risks of harm are low, experts say.
  2. Omission to do something, whether or not it was attempted, especially something that…

    Omission to do something, whether or not it was attempted, especially something that ought to have been done.

  3. An object, person or endeavour in a state of failure, has failed at something or…

    An object, person or endeavour in a state of failure, has failed at something or incapable of success.

  4. + 2 more definitions
    1. Termination of the ability of an item to perform its required function

      Termination of the ability of an item to perform its required function; breakdown.

      • But as with individual train failures you have to tackle every one as it arises and assume it will happen again, which it will, if you don't do something about it.
    2. Bankruptcy.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at failure. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01failure02attempted03connotation04connoted05specified06specify07specification08requirements09requirement

A definitional loop anchored at failure. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at failure

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA