fail-safe | a mechanism capable of returning to a safe state in case there is a failure or malfunction |
fail | get worse, Her health is declining |
fail go bad give way die give out conk out go break break down | stop operating or functioning, The engine finally went, The car died on the road, The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town, The coffee maker broke, The engine failed on the way to town, her eyesight went after the accident |
fail run out give out | prove insufficient, The water supply for the town failed after a long drought |
fail betray | disappoint, prove undependable to, abandon, forsake, His sense of smell failed him this time, His strength finally failed him, His children failed him in the crisis |
fail | become bankrupt or insolvent, fail financially and close, The toy company went bankrupt after the competition hired cheap Mexican labor, A number of banks failed that year |
fail c | fall short in what is expected, She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law, We must not fail his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust |
fail flunk bomb flush it | fail to get a passing grade, She studied hard but failed nevertheless, Did I fail the test? |
fail | judge unacceptable, The teacher failed six students |
fail go wrong miscarry | be unsuccessful, Where do today's public schools fail?, The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably |
fail neglect | fail to do something, leave something undone, She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib, The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account |
fail | be unable, I fail to understand your motives |
fail-safe | eliminating danger by compensating automatically for a failure or malfunction, a fail-safe device in a nuclear weapon to deactivate it automatically in the event of accident |
fail-safe | guaranteed not to fail, a fail-safe recipe for cheese souffle |