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Failing   /fˈeɪlɪŋ/   Listen
verb
Fail  v. t.  
1.
To be wanting to; to be insufficient for; to disappoint; to desert. "There shall not fail thee a man on the throne."
2.
To miss of attaining; to lose. (R.) "Though that seat of earthly bliss be failed."



Fail  v. i.  (past & past part. failed; pres. part. failing)  
1.
To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence; to cease to be furnished in the usual or expected manner, or to be altogether cut off from supply; to be lacking; as, streams fail; crops fail. "As the waters fail from the sea." "Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign."
2.
To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; used with of. "If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not be attributed to their size."
3.
To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink. "When earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail."
4.
To deteriorate in respect to vigor, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails.
5.
To perish; to die; used of a person. (Obs.) "Had the king in his last sickness failed."
6.
To be found wanting with respect to an action or a duty to be performed, a result to be secured, etc.; to miss; not to fulfill expectation. "Take heed now that ye fail not to do this." "Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale."
7.
To come short of a result or object aimed at or desired; to be baffled or frusrated. "Our envious foe hath failed."
8.
To err in judgment; to be mistaken. "Which ofttimes may succeed, so as perhaps Shall grieve him, if I fail not."
9.
To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent; as, many credit unions failed in the late 1980's.



noun
Failing  n.  
1.
A failing short; a becoming deficient; failure; deficiency; imperfection; weakness; lapse; fault; infirmity; as, a mental failing. "And ever in her mind she cast about For that unnoticed failing in herself."
2.
The act of becoming insolvent of bankrupt.
Synonyms: See Fault.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Failing" Quotes from Famous Books



... the same influence and to the same degree. Though the sight had its revolting side, still one was also inclined to laugh at the ridiculous appearance they presented. One was short, but had all the disadvantages of his failing compensated in his breadth. The other was, as I have often described him before—tall and slim, our brave Guy Elersley. His features were barely visible, owing to the manner in which he wore his hat, which would willingly repose on his shoulders only for an occasional jerk upwards from ...
— Honor Edgeworth • Vera

... hermetically sealed, seem to live, during the summer months, only in the open air. Gardens are, therefore, their delight,—public gardens, where such things exist,—in which the men may smoke and drink their beer, the women sip their coffee, in society; or failing this, slips of soil, close to the highway side, from which they are separated only by a low railing,—so that the owners may behold from their open summer-houses every object that shall pass and repass. ...
— Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, Visited in 1837. Vol. II • G. R. Gleig

... time so severe, that we had frequent falls of snow. They were armed with bows, arrows, and javelins; the arrows and javelins were pointed with flint, which was wrought into the shape of a serpent's tongue; and they discharged both with great force and dexterity, scarce ever failing to hit a mark at a considerable distance. To kindle a fire they strike a pebble against a piece of mundic, holding under it, to catch the sparks, some moss or down, mixed with a whitish earth, which takes fire like tinder: They then take some dry grass; of which there is every-where plenty, ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 12 • Robert Kerr

... know." "Thy father, thy lover, thou hast then lost?" "I lost them both at a single blow, And all I held dear In my deepest affection, Ay, all that was near To my heart's recollection. Let me in, I am failing, I beg, I implore, I ...
— Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 5 • Various

... leaving him. That she had three or four times played his master such tricks; but with all the virtue and innocence in the world; running away to an intimate friend of her's, who, though a young lady of honour, was but too indulgent to her in this only failing; for which reason his master has brought her to London lodgings; their usual residence being in the country: and that, on his refusing to satisfy her about a lady he had been seen with in St. James's Park, she had, for the first time since she came to town, ...
— Clarissa, Volume 5 (of 9) • Samuel Richardson


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