fault
//fɔːlt//
informalForms
- Plural
- faults
- present (v1)
- fault
- past (v2)
- faulted
- past participle (v3)
- faulted
- present participle
- faulting
- 3rd person singular
- faults
Definitions
1.Culpability; the responsibility for a blameworthy event.
- No, don't blame yourself. It's my fault that we lost the game.
- I told them the pie was still too hot. If they burn their tongues, that's their fault.
- The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
2.A defect, imperfection, or weakness; more severe than a flaw.
- You're still young, that's your fault.
- Despite all her faults, she’s a good person at heart.
- Cork taint is one of the most recognizable wine faults.
3.A mistake or error.
- If the horse refuses an obstacle, the rider will receive four faults.
4.A point at which something is divided, interrupted, or disconnected.
- Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have singled, / With much ado, the cold fault clearly out.
- That might explain why the last three major earthquakes occurred not at San Andreas faults, where it would seem natural to expect them, but in both adjacent fault groups.
1.To commit a mistake or error.
2.To criticize, blame or find fault with something or someone.
- "There will a team over there [he waves towards York's Rail Operating Centre] like flight engineers, maintaining it and faulting it from a ROC rather than a van by the side of the track."
3.To undergo a page fault.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2082
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
From Middle English faute, faulte, from Anglo-Norman faute, Old French faute, from Vulgar Latin *fallita (“shortcoming”), feminine of *fallitus, in place of Latin falsus, perfect passive participle of fallō (“deceive”).