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Fault   /fɔlt/   Listen
noun
Fault  n.  
1.
Defect; want; lack; default. "One, it pleases me, for fault of a better, to call my friend."
2.
Anything that fails, that is wanting, or that impairs excellence; a failing; a defect; a blemish. "As patches set upon a little breach Discredit more in hiding of the fault."
3.
A moral failing; a defect or dereliction from duty; a deviation from propriety; an offense less serious than a crime.
4.
(Geol. & Mining)
(a)
A dislocation of the strata of the vein.
(b)
In coal seams, coal rendered worthless by impurities in the seam; as, slate fault, dirt fault, etc.
5.
(Hunting) A lost scent; act of losing the scent. "Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have singled, With much ado, the cold fault cleary out."
6.
(Tennis) Failure to serve the ball into the proper court.
7.
(Elec.) A defective point in an electric circuit due to a crossing of the parts of the conductor, or to contact with another conductor or the earth, or to a break in the circuit.
8.
(Geol. & Mining) A dislocation caused by a slipping of rock masses along a plane of facture; also, the dislocated structure resulting from such slipping. Note: The surface along which the dislocated masses have moved is called the fault plane. When this plane is vertical, the fault is a vertical fault; when its inclination is such that the present relative position of the two masses could have been produced by the sliding down, along the fault plane, of the mass on its upper side, the fault is a normal fault, or gravity fault. When the fault plane is so inclined that the mass on its upper side has moved up relatively, the fault is then called a reverse fault (or reversed fault), thrust fault, or overthrust fault. If no vertical displacement has resulted, the fault is then called a horizontal fault. The linear extent of the dislocation measured on the fault plane and in the direction of movement is the displacement of the fault; the vertical displacement is the throw of the fault; the horizontal displacement is the heave of the fault. The direction of the line of intersection of the fault plane with a horizontal plane is the trend of the fault. A fault is a strike fault when its trend coincides approximately with the strike of associated strata (i.e., the line of intersection of the plane of the strata with a horizontal plane); it is a dip fault when its trend is at right angles to the strike; an oblique fault when its trend is oblique to the strike. Oblique faults and dip faults are sometimes called cross faults. A series of closely associated parallel faults are sometimes called step faults and sometimes distributive faults.
At fault, unable to find the scent and continue chase; hence, in trouble or embarrassment, and unable to proceed; puzzled; thrown off the track.
To find fault, to find reason for blaming or complaining; to express dissatisfaction; to complain; followed by with before the thing complained of; but formerly by at. "Matter to find fault at."
Synonyms: Error; blemish; defect; imperfection; weakness; blunder; failing; vice. Fault, Failing, Defect, Foible. A fault is positive, something morally wrong; a failing is negative, some weakness or falling short in a man's character, disposition, or habits; a defect is also negative, and as applied to character is the absence of anything which is necessary to its completeness or perfection; a foible is a less important weakness, which we overlook or smile at. A man may have many failings, and yet commit but few faults; or his faults and failings may be few, while his foibles are obvious to all. The faults of a friend are often palliated or explained away into mere defects, and the defects or foibles of an enemy exaggerated into faults. "I have failings in common with every human being, besides my own peculiar faults; but of avarice I have generally held myself guiltless." "Presumption and self-applause are the foibles of mankind."


verb
Fault  v. t.  (past & past part. faulted; pres. part. faulting)  
1.
To charge with a fault; to accuse; to find fault with; to blame. (Obs.) "For that I will not fault thee."
2.
(Geol.) To interrupt the continuity of (rock strata) by displacement along a plane of fracture; chiefly used in the p. p.; as, the coal beds are badly faulted.


Fault  v. i.  To err; to blunder, to commit a fault; to do wrong. (Obs.) "If after Samuel's death the people had asked of God a king, they had not faulted."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Fault" Quotes from Famous Books



... was, according to General Ople's version of the interview on his estate, when he stood before her in his gardening costume, she put him at his ease, or she exerted herself to do so; and if he underwent considerable anguish, it was the fault of his excessive scrupulousness regarding dress, ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... a simple sermon: among other things, reproaching the imperfection of humane learning, he cried, 'All our physicians cannot tell what an ague is, and all our arithmetique is not able to number the days of a man'—which, God knows, is not the fault of arithmetique, but that our understandings reach not the thing." "The blockhead Albemarle hath strange luck to be loved, though he be, and every man must know it, the heaviest man in the world, but stout and honest to his country." ...
— Among Famous Books • John Kelman
... of scientific investigation, is scarcely worth the trouble; so when Sir Reginald was good enough to furnish me with the means to materialise, as it were, in this ship, the fancies and longings that had haunted me, day and night, for years, I determined that it should not be my fault if we did not, all of us, completely eclipse all previous achievements in diving. The great difficulty that I had to contend with was the enormous water-pressure of which I had spoken. Could I but contrive to encase our bodies in some garment that would receive and ...
— With Airship and Submarine - A Tale of Adventure • Harry Collingwood
... little paregol down its throat, or my name aint Hannah," and with a sigh of relief at her escape from "Miss Ruggles," she finished her story and resumed her accustomed duties, which for many weeks she faithfully performed, finding but little fault with the frequent suggestions of Mrs. Janet Blodgett, whose rule in the household was for ...
— Cousin Maude • Mary J. Holmes
... experiences were the comment of the camp and gave rise to many differences, but, since placidity and fat have been known among so-called civilised peoples to blend in the individual, Maria's demeanour called for no comment. It was not her fault, but the flightiness and whimsicality of Nature which had contrived to make her the belle of the camp. And why not enjoy the obvious admiration of the stalwart youths as well as the discomfort of the sisters who had not ...
— Tropic Days • E. J. Banfield


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