a defect or imperfection; flaw; failing: a fault in the brakes; a fault in one's character.
responsibility for failure or a wrongful act: It is my fault that we have not finished.
an error or mistake: a fault in addition.
a misdeed or transgression: to confess one's faults.
Sports. (in tennis, handball, etc.)
a ball that when served does not land in the proper section of an opponent's court.
a failure to serve the ball according to the rules, as from within a certain area.
Geology, Mining. a break in the continuity of a body of rock or of a vein, with dislocation along the plane of the fracture (fault plane ).
Manège. (of a horse jumping in a show) any of a number of improper executions in negotiating a jump, as a tick, knockdown, refusal, or run-out.
Electricity. a partial or total local failure in the insulation or continuity of a conductor or in the functioning of an electric system.
Hunting. a break in the line of scent; a losing of the scent; check.
Obsolete. lack; want.
verb (used without object)
to commit a fault; blunder; err.
Geology. to undergo faulting.
verb (used with object)
Geology. to cause a fault in.
to find fault with, blame, or censure.
Idioms for fault
at fault,
open to censure; blameworthy: to be at fault for a mistake.
in a dilemma; puzzled: to be at fault as to where to go.
(of hounds) unable to find the scent.
find fault, to seek and make known defects or flaws; complain; criticize: He constantly found fault with my behavior.
to a fault, to an extreme degree; excessively: She was generous to a fault.
Origin of fault
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English faute, faulte, from Anglo-French, Middle French, from unattested Vulgar Latin fallita, noun use of feminine of unattested fallitus, for Latin falsus, past participle of fallere “to be wrong”
SYNONYMS FOR fault
1 blemish; frailty, shortcoming.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR fault ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR fault
1 virtue, strength, merit.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR fault ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for fault
1. Fault,failing,foible,weakness,vice imply shortcomings or imperfections in a person. Fault is the common word used to refer to any of the average shortcomings of a person; when it is used, condemnation is not necessarily implied: A quick temper is her greatest fault.Foible,failing,weakness all tend to excuse the person referred to. Of these foible is the mildest, suggesting a weak point that is slight and often amusing, manifesting itself in eccentricity rather than in wrongdoing: the foibles of artists.Weakness suggests that the person in question is unable to control a particular impulse, and gives way to self-indulgence: a weakness for pretty women.Failing is closely akin to fault, except that it is particularly applied to humanity at large, suggesting common, often venial, shortcomings: Procrastination and making excuses are common failings.Vice (which may also apply to a sin in itself, apart from a person: the vice of gambling ) is the strongest term, and designates a habit that is truly detrimental or evil.
The emergency pivot to remote learning for K–12 students last spring illuminated longstanding educational fault lines in the United States.
Creative school plans could counter inequities exposed by COVID-19|Sujata Gupta|September 8, 2020|Science News
They had definitely gone through various stages of believing it was their fault, that they were silly to have believed him.
“People want to believe”: How Love Fraud builds an absorbing docuseries around a romantic con man|Alissa Wilkinson|September 4, 2020|Vox
Throughout the scandal – and resulting budget cuts – Janney insisted the problems were not her fault and that she could steer the district back to financial stability.
Embattled Sweetwater Superintendent Fired|Will Huntsberry|September 1, 2020|Voice of San Diego
That finding hints that CO2 rising toward Earth’s surface can change pressure along faults to trigger earthquakes, researchers report online August 26 in Science Advances.
Carbon dioxide from Earth’s mantle may trigger some Italian earthquakes|Maria Temming|August 26, 2020|Science News
That said, the primary process can still reveal different fault lines in the party.
Biden Had To Fight For The Presidential Nomination. But Most VPs Have To.|Julia Azari|August 20, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
It seemed she echoed all the things I was telling myself—this is YOUR fault.
How I Stopped My Rapist|Natasha Alexenko|November 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Big Bird's honest reaction will emotionally wreck you in a way even The Fault in Our Stars can't.
‘Sesame Street’ Is Middle-Aged and Awesome|Emily Shire|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It distorts more and more every day of the month, every year, due to the slow effects of fault creep.
Silicon Valley Mansions, Swallowed Alive|Geoff Manaugh|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Geometrically, it is a cube being forced into a rhomboid by the fault.
Silicon Valley Mansions, Swallowed Alive|Geoff Manaugh|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Attempts at reducing Red Band Society to a simple branding or logline have typically called it Fault in Our Stars meets Glee.
‘Red Band Society’ Is Really Freaking Sad (And May Be TV’s Best New Drama)|Kevin Fallon|September 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
T want altogedder our own fault dat brought us on board de slabe-ship Pandora,—neider you not maseff.
The Ocean Waifs|Mayne Reid
He was always cheerful, ready to do any one a favor, and was generous to a fault.
Frank Before Vicksburg|Harry Castlemon
And is it fair to punish me for what is my misfortune, and not my fault?
Clarissa, Volume 7|Samuel Richardson
And if he has deserted me, and gone to America, then its your fault.
Twos and Threes|G. B. Stern
It is not because we do not recognize the fault of this plan, or rather of this absence of plan.
What Is Free Trade?|Frdrick Bastiat
British Dictionary definitions for fault
fault
/ (fɔːlt) /
noun
an imperfection; failing or defect; flaw
a mistake or error
an offence; misdeed
responsibility for a mistake or misdeed; culpability
electronicsa defect in a circuit, component, or line, such as a short circuit
geologya fracture in the earth's crust resulting in the relative displacement and loss of continuity of the rocks on either side of it
tennissquashbadmintonan invalid serve, such as one that lands outside a prescribed area
(in showjumping) a penalty mark given for failing to clear or refusing a fence, exceeding a time limit, etc
huntingan instance of the hounds losing the scent
deficiency; lack; want
at fault
guilty of error; culpable
perplexed
(of hounds) having temporarily lost the scent
find faultto seek out minor imperfections or errors (in); carp (at)
to a faultexcessively
verb
geologyto undergo or cause to undergo a fault
(tr)to find a fault in, criticize, or blame
(intr)to commit a fault
Word Origin for fault
C13: from Old French faute, from Vulgar Latin fallita (unattested), ultimately from Latin fallere to fail
A fracture in a rock formation along which there has been movement of the blocks of rock on either side of the plane of fracture. Faults are caused by plate-tectonic forces. See more at normal faultreverse faultstrike-slip faultthrust faulttransform fault. See Note at earthquake.
A Closer Look
Bedrock, the solid rock just below the soil, is often cracked along surfaces known as planes. Cracks can extend up to hundreds of kilometers in length. When tensional and compressional stresses cause rocks separated by a crack to move past each other, the crack is known as a fault. Faults can be horizontal, vertical, or oblique. The movement can occur in the sudden jerks known as earthquakes. Normal faults, or tensional faults, occur when the rocks above the fault plane move down relative to the rocks below it, pulling the rocks apart. Where there is compression and folding, such as in mountainous regions, the rocks above the plane move upward relative to the rocks below the plane; these are called reverse faults. Strike-slip faults occur when shearing stress causes rocks on either side of the crack to slide parallel to the fault plane between them. Transform faults are strike-slip faults in which the crack is part of a boundary between two tectonic plates. A well-known example is the San Andreas Fault in California. Geologists use sightings of displaced outcroppings to infer the presence of faults, and they study faults to learn the history of the forces that have acted on rocks.