| 释义 |
▪ I. fault, n.|fɔːlt, fɒlt|
Forms: 3–7 (8, 9 dial.) faut(e, (5 fauute, fauȝt), 4–6 fawt(e, 5–7 falt, faulte, 5– fault.
[ME. faut(e, a. OF. faute fem. (also faut masc.) = Pr., Sp., Pg., It. falta:—popular Lat. *fallita, a failing, coming short, f. *fallitus, popular Lat. pa. pple. of fallĕre: see fail v.
The earliest recorded spelling in Fr. is faute; the etymological l was inserted by some writers in 15–17th c., and this example was followed in Eng. (our first certain instance being in the MSS. of Barbour written in 1487–9); from 17th c. the standard spelling has been fault, but in Pope and Swift it rimes with thought, wrought, and Johnson 1755 says that in conversation the l is generally suppressed. In many dialects the pronunciation is still |fɔːt|.]
†1.
a. Deficiency, lack, scarcity, want of (something specified). rare in pl. Also used absol. (like want) = want of food or necessaries. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 4504 (Cott.) Man þat..thoru his welth, na fautes felis. Ibid. 5385 (Cott.) Faut o bred was in þat tide. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 303, & whan we faren to fed we finde no faute. 1375Barbour Bruce ix. 318 [He] has the castell tan, Throu falt of vach. c1450Henryson Mor. Fab. 60 The Fowles faire for falt they fell off feete. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7628 He fande faute of honeste. 14..Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 95 The pore, for faute late þem not spylle! 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clix. 193 They had gret faut in their hoost of vitayle. 1591Coningsby Siege of Rouen in Camden Misc. (1847) I. 30 You would have thoughte there had bene noe faulte of men.
†b. The amount deficient (in an account). Obs.
1665Pepys Diary 20 Mar., He..is ready to lay down in ready money the fault of his account.
c. for (the) fault of: in default of; in the absence of; through deficiency or want of. Also without for (after F. faute de). Now arch.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 397/154 His fon haueþ moch of his lond for þe faute of þe y-nome. c1330Arth. & Merl. 7834 Ded me weren leuer by Ihesus Than he starf for faut of ous. c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 435 She swouned..for faute of blood. c1420Pallad. on Husb. iv. 699 For faute of that gete other thinges goode. 1480Bury Wills (1850) 56 For the favte of sweche issue the remandyre therof to the next heyre. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) N iij, Rome is fallen..not for faute of money and armes. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 45 One it pleases me, for fault of a better, to call my friend. 1620Frier Rush 30 His Masters shoone..for faut of greasing..were very hard. 1685Gracian's Courtiers Orac. 221 Seriousness is wanting, for fault of which great qualities have no lustre in them. 1794Burns Gane is the day, We'll ne'er stray for faute o' light. 1867Emerson Poems (1914) 252 And, fault of novel germs, Mature the unfallen fruit. 1874Swinburne Bothwell (1882) ii. xiv. 195 Though it be evil made for fault of time.
†2. Default, failing, neglect. without (any) fault (= Fr. sans faute): without fail; hence, for a certainty. Cf. fail n. 1. Obs.
c1325Coer de L. 1214 Thou schalt..have..folk inowe with thee; In us schall no fawte bee. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 34 Who-so..be nouthe þere..he schal paie a pound of wax for is faute. c1477Caxton Jason 45 b, If ye wole telle me your name with out any faute, I shal telle yow myn also. c1489― Sonnes of Aymon ix. 215 Now shall they be honged to morowe wythoute fawte. c1500Melusine 318 My swete loue..there shal be no fawte of it. 1502Bury Wills (Camden) 92 For fawte of thithing and offryng nectly⁓gently forgotyn iij s. iiij d. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xviii. 22 Your ennemies.. be within iii. myle of you..ther shall ye fynde them without faulte. 1587L. Mascall Govt. Cattle (1627) 182 They are bred by euill meate, and fault of drinking good water.
3. A defect, imperfection, blameable quality or feature.
a. in moral character. (Expressing a milder censure than vice.)
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 209 Ne vnder-nym nouȝte foule for is none with-oute faute. c1400Apol. Loll. 100 We are not so sikir þat we be wiþ out faut, error, and vnkunning. c1420Chron. Vilod. 1226 In me fforsothe no fauȝt þer nys. 1587Mirr. Mag., Porrex vii, Can I excuse my selfe deuoide of faut. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xiv. 308 That godly King..had some defects, but few faults. 1784Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 113 A benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself. 1785Burns Epist. to J. Lapraik xvii, There's ae wee faut they whiles lay to me, I like the lasses. a1846Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 I. 464 Great men too often have greater faults than little men can find room for. 1857Livingstone Trav. ii. 44 His independence and love of the English were his only faults.
b. in physical or intellectual constitution, appearance, structure, workmanship, etc.
c1320Seuyn Sag. (W.) 120 The fairest man..Withouten faute fra heid to fote. 1538Starkey England ii. i. 26 The commyn fautys and mysordurys of the same. 1599Minsheu Dial. Sp. & Eng. (1623) 57 The women generally..have three faults..litle eies, great mouthes, and not very smooth skin. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xvii. 86 Do not see..any fault, in the administration of their common businesse. 1675Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Ess. Poetry 74 Where can one [song] be seen without a fault? 1713Swift Cadenus & Vanessa 603 She own'd the wandering of her thoughts, But he must answer for her faults. 1884tr. Lotze's Logic 197 An essential fault of the Pythagorean theory.
c. In phrase to a fault (qualifying an adj.): to such an extent that it becomes a fault; excessively, extremely.
1752Scots Mag. xv. 41/1 This was good-natur'd to a fault. 1762Goldsm. Nash Wks. 1881 IV. 89 She was..generous to a fault. 1849D. G. Mitchell Battle Summer (1852) 140 His dress is plain to a fault.
d. Comm. with all faults (now sometimes abbreviated ‘A.F.’ or ‘Job A.F.’): with all defects, i.e. the seller will not be answerable for them.
1716Lond. Gaz. No. 5400/4 To be taken away with all Faults. 1894Times (Weekly ed.) 22 June p. iii/4 A first folio Shakespeare, imperfect, and sold with all faults, realized {pstlg}255.
†4. An unsound or damaged place; a flaw, crack; Mil. a gap in the ranks. Obs.
1514Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 9 Stoppe all the holes where thou can fautes se. 1595Shakes. John iv. ii. 33 Patches set vpon a little breach Discredite more in hiding of the fault. 1609C. Butler Fem. Mon. iii. (1623) G iij, First, lift vp the stalls..then setting them downe againe..mend all brackes and faults about them. 1698Sir T. Morgan Progr. in France in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 388 Major Morgan, observing the enemy mending faults, and opening the intervals of the foot, to bring horse in.
5. Something wrongly done. Phrase, to commit (rarely do, make) a fault.
a. In moral sense: A dereliction of duty; a misdeed, transgression, offence. Also occas. Delinquency in general, ‘something wrong’.
13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 177 For fele fautez may a freke forfete his blysse. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 66 Forto clense her of sertaine fauutes that she had done. 1514Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 3 Faustus..To them imputynge grete fautes. 1550Crowley Last Trump 753 Winke not at faltes. 1611Bible Gen. xli. 9, I doe remember my faults this day. 1748Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 310 Distresses..brought upon persons by their own faults. a1853Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xvii. 219 A restless, undefinable sense of fault. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 250 A fault which is most serious, I said; the fault of telling a lie.
b. A failure in what is attempted; a slip, error, mistake. Now somewhat rare; ‘lady teachers often use it in marking school exercises (after F. faute)’ (N.E.D.). In early use esp. † a clerical error or misprint.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. Author's Pref., If any faute be in this my rude translacyon. 1559W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse A iij b, If faultes escape..with penne spedely amende it. 1583Holiband Campo di Fior 359 Leave more space betwene both lines. That there maye be place to mende your faultes. 1633E. Campion's Hist. Irel. (at end), Faults escaped. 1701De Foe True-born Eng. Pref., The Book is Printed; and tho I see some Faults, 'tis too late to mend them. 1725Watts Logic iii. iii, There must be some fault in the deduction. 1774Goldsm. Grecian Hist. II. 35 The other army..had made another fault, not less considerable. 1845Graves Rom. Law in Encycl. Metrop. 775/1 The..faults of the Florentine MS. are corrected.
c. spec. in Rackets and Tennis. A faulty stroke; a stroke in which the server fails to make the ball fall within the prescribed limits.
1599Chapman Humorous Day's Mirth E ij, I gaue him fifteene and all his faults. 1611Cotgr., Bisque, a fault at Tennis. 1679Shadwell True Widow i, We'll play with you at a bisk, and a fault, for twenty pound. 1886H. F. Wilkinson Encycl. Brit. XX. 210/2 (Rackets), Two consecutive faults put a hand out. 1888J. Marshall ibid. XXIII. 182/2 (Tennis), It is a fault if the service be delivered from the wrong court.
6. a. to find (a) fault: to discover or perceive a fault (senses 3–5) in a person or thing. b. Hence, idiomatically, to find fault (with, † at): to express dissatisfaction (with), criticize unfavourably, censure.
a.a1375Lay Folks Mass Bk. App. iv. 479 Faute þer⁓Inne ȝif þat he fynde Mak no scornynge me be-hynde. c1400Rom. Rose 3837 Grete faute in thee now have I founde. c1440York Myst. xx. 183 Fautez nowe are founden fele. 1563–7Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 9 Geif the regent find falt quhairof the nomenclator has nocht advertysit hym. 1711Addison Spect. No. 29 ⁋3 The only Fault I find in our present Practice. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 63 If he find any fault in her within three days.
b.c1400Destr. Troy 4850 Rule vs by rightwisnes..þat no fawte with vs founden be. 1588J. Udall Diotrephes (Arb.) 6 Finding faut with him for one thing or another. 1593Tell-Troths N.Y. Gift 9 A man will finde fault without cause. 1611Bible Mark vii. 2 When they saw some of his disciples eate bread with defiled..hands, they found fault. 1656Artif. Handsom. (1662) 4 Eyes..over-curious to find fault at Art. 1741Middleton Cicero (ed. 3) III. xi. 257 You find fault with me. 1776Bentham Fragm. Govt. Wks. 1843 I. 230 If nothing is ever to be found fault with, nothing will ever be mended. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 161, I am not given to finding fault. 1892T. W. Erle in Law Times XCIII. 417/2 No fault was found with my suggestions.
7. a. With reference to persons: Culpability; the blame or responsibility of causing or permitting some untoward occurrence; the wrong-doing or negligence to which a specified evil is attributable. to be in († one's, † the) fault: to be to blame. † to lay, put (a) fault † in, upon: to impute blame to. † to bear the fault: to bear the blame. it is my (his, etc.) fault: I am (he is, etc.) the person to blame for what has happened.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 103 And leyden fautes vpon þe fader þat fourmed vs alle. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 290 He will be found in his fault. that wantis. 1530Crome in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. x. 20, I doo nott putt fawte in no man. 1530Palsgr. 429/2, I am..in the faute that a thyng is a mysse, jay tort. 1559Mirr. Mag., Northumbld. xix, This was my hap, my fortune, or my fawte. 1600E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 206 To lay the faulte upon Anthony. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xi. (1845) 235 Their Superiours are in the fault. 1700S. L. tr. C. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 349 The Master was in all the fault. 1715De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. v. (1841) I. 96 Lay the fault on me. 1726–31Tindal Rapin's Hist. Eng. (1743) II. xvii. 675 Who are in the greatest faults. 1735Pope Ep. Lady 73 Let Blood and Body bear the fault. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 319 All is lost, but not through any fault of mine. a1839Praed Poems (1864) II. 22 When weak poets go astray, ‘The stars are more in fault than they’. 1848Dickens Dombey ii, It will be our own faults if we lose sight of this one. 1884F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 1 It was not any fault of mine.
¶ Incorrectly in plural, by the attraction of poss. adj. referring to two or more persons.
1738Common Sense (1739) II. 242 Where this happens, it is their own Faults. 1774Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 228 It is our own faults if we err greatly.
b. The defect, the ‘something wrong’ (in things, conditions, etc.) to which a specified evil is attributable. (Phrases as in a.)
1375Barbour Bruce iii. 298 Giff..he thar-off failȝe, The fawt may be in his trawailȝe. 1590Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 21 By the negligence of the Harquebuziers..or by the fault of the touch-boxes. 1656H. Phillips Purch. Patt. (1676) 15 The fault lies in those false rules and customs. 1803T. Beddoes Hygeia xi. 15 Rich sauces eaten in profusion..are very frequently in fault. 1807Med. Jrnl. XVII. 244 The fault..is not in the practitioner but in the patient. 1859Tennyson Geraint & Enid 1115 Creatures voiceless thro' the fault of birth.
8. a. Hunting. A break in the line of scent; loss of scent; a check caused by failure of scent. † cold fault: cold or lost scent. to be, † fall at (a) fault: to overrun the line of scent owing to its irregularity or failure; to lose or be off the scent or track. to hit off a fault: to recover a lost scent.
1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 694 The hot scent-snuffing hounds..have singled..the cold fault cleanly out. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 107 Suddenly the hounds fell at a fault. 1637Shirley Lady of Pleasure ii. ii, Give him leave To follow his own nose..while he hunts In view,—he'll soon be at a fault. 1687Congreve Old Bach. v. i, Your blood-hound has made out the fault. 1749Fielding Tom Jones x. vi, Bad hounds..never hit off a fault them⁓selves. 1781Beckford Hunting (1802) 163 If a long fault make his [the huntsman's] assistance necessary. 1888Times 10 Oct. 5/5 They [bloodhounds] are at fault..by overrunning the line. 1888P. Lindley ibid. 16 Oct. 10/5 The hound..took up the stale trail..without a fault.
b. fig. at fault: puzzled, at a loss.
[1626Wotton in Reliq. Wotton. (ed. 3) 550 We are..at a fault, in the Hunter's term.] 1833H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. v. 87 One's conscience being at fault, an appeal to the law must settle the matter. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast i. 1 My little knowledge of a vessel was all at fault. 1861T. L. Peacock Gryll Grange ii, There was sufficient diversity in the characters of the rejected to place conjecture at fault. 1886Shorthouse Sir Percival iv. 121 The walls and courts..were so full of..relics of the past that the wisest antiquarians were at fault.
c. at fault, not equal to the occasion, in the position of having failed.
Formerly considered an incorrect use. ‘With still greater impropriety, it is (according to Mr. Fitzedward Hall) frequently employed by American and occasionally by Eng. writers in the sense of ‘in fault’’ (N.E.D.).
1876L. Stephen Eng. Thought I. vi. 324 The many difficulties in nature..when made the groundwork of an argument..imply that the creator has been at fault. 1935Discovery July 206/1 Sometimes it was the glaze..which was at fault. 1947Mulgan & Davin Introd. Eng. Lit. xiii. 167 The natural presumption is that it is not his already proved skill that is at fault but rather the nature of the theories.
9. Geol. and Mining.
a. A dislocation or break in continuity of the strata or vein. Also, a flaw or dislocation in ice. Cf. F. faille.
1796Phil. Trans. 351 They discovered..a fault..in the strata. 1813Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 263 Faults generally decline a little from a vertical position. 1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 43 The faults and dislocations of the strata. 1847Ansted Anc. World vi. 108 Every coal-field is..split asunder and broken into small fragments by..‘faults’. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xxvii. 392 The [ice] beds were bent, and their continuity often broken by faults. 1863Lyell Antiq. Man (ed. 3) 199 A valley..follows a line of fault in the chalk. 1883W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 103 There are several kinds of faults, e.g. Faults of Dislocation; of Denudation; Upheaval; Trough Fault; Reverse or Overlap Fault; Step Fault. 1925N. E. Odell in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 314 That the ice above the Trough was undergoing severe stress was apparent not only from its foliation, but also from the faults—‘flaws’ or ‘tear-faults’—that had been extensively developed in this area.
b. (See quot.)
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., In coal-seams, sometimes applied to the coal rendered worthless by its condition in the seam (slate-fault, dirt-fault, etc.).
10. Telegr. An imperfect insulation; the condition of being in contact with anything which impairs or weakens the current; a leakage.
1863Culley Handbk. Pract. Telegr. iv. 64 These faults are called ‘earth’ and ‘contact’. Ibid. iv. 65 Suppose..a fault to occur connecting the wire to the earth.. This leak will lessen the total resistance.
11. Comb. Chiefly objective, as fault-finder n.; fault-finding n. and adj.; fault-hunting adj.; attrib. (sense 9) fault-fissure, fault-line, fault-plane, fault zone. Also fault-block, a mass of displaced rock (sometimes of extensive area) bounded by or between two faults; fault breccia, breccia resulting from movement along a fault, a crush-breccia or fault-rock; fault-line scarp, a scarp produced secondarily along a fault-line by erosion, etc.; fault-line valley, a valley along a fault-line; fault-reader, one who can trace the correspondence of strata interrupted by a fault; fault-rock (see quots.); fault-scarp, a scarp directly produced by throw at a fault; fault-slip , the smooth surface of the fractured rocks in some types of faults; fault-stuff (see quot.); fault-vein, a mineral vein filling a fault; fault-vent, a volcanic vent occurring at a fault.
1897W. B. Scott Introd. Geol. xiii. 248 If two parallel dislocations hade toward each other, they form a trough fault and include a wedge-shaped *fault block. 1925N. E. Odell in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 292 At one point in the gorge a fault block had been turned through 90°. 1968W. A. Price in R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 794 Fault-block origin for the Old Crow lakes is supported by the large square drainage patterns with which the lakes are associated.
1891Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. Lond. XLVII. 322 An interesting feature in the Packhouse Hill section is a metamorphosed *fault-breccia, which intervenes between the Lower and Middle Coldwell beds. 1969C. R. Longwell et al. Physical Geol. xvii. 413 Rocks adjacent to a fault can be crushed into irregular pieces, forming fault breccia.
1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer Epist. C ij b, I confesse to my *faultfinders. 1581Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 49 Fault-finders..wil correct the Verbe, before they vnderstande the Noune. 1852Robertson Serm. Ser. iv. xxxv. (1863) 273 Social faultfinders, who are ever on the watch for error.
1622Davies Orchestra lxv, Correspondence..That no *fault-finding eye did ever blame. 1626Bernard Isle of Man 20 He..liveth upon fault-finding. 1630M. Godwyn tr. Bp. Godwyn's Ann. Eng. 43 The most fault-finding could not complaine of any want in that kinde. 1865Miss Mulock Chr. Mistake 90 Small backbitings and fault-findings.
1855J. R. Leifchild Cornwall Mines 87 In some instances..the *fault-fissures are open. 1903A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 4) 372 Another remarkable instance of the..fault-fissure type was furnished by the great Japanese earth⁓quake of 28th October 1891.
1612Chapman Widowes T. in Dodsley O. Pl. (1720) VI. 210, I must..be sure to give no hold to these *fault-hunting enemies.
1869Phillips Vesuv. vii. 197 On such a *fault-line atmospheric vicissitude has been effective.
1911Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 622/1 The removal of the weak strata along one side of the fault line, leaving the harder strata on the other side in relief; such scarps are known as ‘*fault-line scarps’. 1935Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXVI. 362 They may mistake fault-line scarps for fault scarps. 1968R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 349/2 A fault-line scarp..is a cliff that is subparallel to the fault trace, but is so modified by erosion that it does not reflect the fault plane in any way.
1913W. M. Davis in Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XXIV. 207 They should be called by some special name, such as *fault-line valleys, as here suggested. 1963A. N. Strahler Earth Sciences xxxiv. 598 Streams occupying fault lines are classed as subsequent streams... Their valleys may be termed subsequent valleys, or, more specifically, fault-line valleys.
1889O. Fisher Physics of Earth's Crust (ed. 2) xx. 263 A ‘*fault-plane’ or ‘thrust-plane’. 1900Geogr. Jrnl. XVI. 466 Inclined fault-planes with down⁓throw towards one trough. 1913Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XXIV. 166 A fault surface is the surface of fracture; it is rarely plane, but where it is without notable curvature over any area it may be called a fault plane for that area. 1939Proc. Prehist. Soc. V. 107 A spring issuing from the Chalk at the fault-plane.
1891R. Kipling City Dreadf. Nt. 85 A good ‘*fault-reader’..must more than know geology.
1877A. H. Green Phys. Geol. ix. §4. 365 Fragments of the adjoining rocks mashed and jumbled together, in some cases bound into a solid mass called fault-stuff or *fault-rock. 1882Geikie Text Bk. Geol. iv. vi. 524 The line of fracture is marked by a belt or wall-like mass of fragmentary rock, known as ‘fault rock’.
1897W. B. Scott Introd. Geol. xiii. 248 It is comparatively seldom that the upthrow side of a fault is left standing as a line of cliffs; when such is the case, the cliffs form a *fault scarp. 1960L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. (ed. 5) xxiii. 229 One of the finest examples of a fault-scarp to be found anywhere—the great wall of the Highlands overlooking a valley excavated in Old Red Sandstone rocks.
1883Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining, *Fault-slip.
1811J. Farey Agric. Derbysh. I. i. §3. 120 Extraneous matters filling the Fault..I shall call them *Fault-stuff. 1877[see fault-rock above].
1886J. Prestwich Geol. I. xviii. 309 Mineral veins may be divided into fissure-veins, *fault-veins, and..quartz-veins. 1903Nature 3 Sept. 413/2 During the geological periods when the fault-vent continued intermittently active.
1931C. M. Nevin Princ. Struct. Geol. iv. 78 Frequently, the displacement caused by faulting may be spread over a number of closely spaced adjacent fractures, instead of being confined to one surface, in which case a *fault zone is formed. 1944A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. vi. 79 Sometimes, instead of a single fracture, there are two or more, forming a strip consisting of a sheet of crushed rock of variable thickness. This is distinguished as a fault zone, and the shattered material within is called a fault breccia. 1970Encycl. Brit. VII. 861/1 The bottom of the well was located in a fault zone.
Add:[5.] d. Show-jumping, etc. A penalty point incurred for an error in performance.
1912Horse & Hound 29 June 409/2 For Russia Captain d'Exe on Epire had half a fault scored against him. 1926Ibid. 26 June 465/2 Captain Dunn was unfortunate in registering four faults at the wattle gate. 1946M. C. Self Horseman's Encycl. 251 In tandem formations.., where correct distance is not kept, a fault of ½ point will be scored for each one half horse's length. 1964J. Berrisford Show Jumper in Family xvi. 118 Penny was surprised to hear a sharp gasp from the crowd as three ‘bricks’ fell. Four faults. 1984Smith & Green Harvey Smith on Show-Jumping ii. 53 (caption) Sanyo Technology..had just one fence down in each of the two rounds of the Nations Cup in Paris, 1983, helping the British team to beat the French by one quarter of a fault.
▪ II. fault, v.|fɔːlt, fɒlt|
Forms: 4–6 faut(e(n, fawt(e, 6 faulte, 6–7 falt, 9 Sc. faut, 6– fault.
[f. prec. n.; cf. OF. fauter, which may be the source in the older senses.]
†1. intr. To be wanting or absent. Const. dat.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Laurentius 778 Þat was to þat ilke end: Gyf ocht fawtyt, It til amend. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. ix. 66, I fynde þat holicherche Shulde fynden hem þat hem fauteth. 1398Trevisa Barth. De. P.R. xix. i. (1495) 860 Yf lyghte lackyth and fawtyth: the qualyte of colour is not seen. c1460Launfal 200 Today to cherche y wolde have gon, But me fawtede hosyn and schon. 1525Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxx. 87 Here fauteth company.
†2. To be deficient in, to be lacking in. Obs.
1504Atkinson tr. De Imitatione iii. xxxix, Worldlye wyse men fawteth in thy wysdome, good lorde. 1579E. K. in Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Epist., Minding to furnish our tongue in this kind, wherein it faulteth. 1586A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) A iij, I will blush for mine errors, where I fault in ability I will shew you my will. 1606Holland Sueton. Annot. 11 Hee faulted in common civilitie.
†3.
a. trans. To stand in need of, lack, want, be deficient in. Obs.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. ix. 66 Foles þat fauten Inwitte. a1400–50Alexander 2710 A thing..þarnes þe wyngis, And fautis þe fethirhames. 1470–85Malory Arthur iii. i, I fawte l [knyghtes], for so many haue ben slayne. c1475Partenay 6379 She noght fauteth þat haue shold A lady.
absol.1475Bk. Noblesse 31 Be this way the ost may never faut.
†b. impers. = Fr. il faut. To be needful. Obs.
1502Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W.) v. iii. 377 It fauteth not for to ymagen that they ben lesse ferefull in hell.
†4.
a. intr. To come short of a standard; to make default, fail. Obs.
14..tr. Leges Quatuor Burgorum c. 19 in Sc. Stat. (1844) I. 336 Gif he faltis twyis he sall be chastyte twyis for his forfaute. Gif he faltis thryse [etc.]. 1486Stanley's Ord. Lichfield Gild 12 If the seid..persons wyl absent them-self..[they] shal pay ij pownd of wax; and as ofte as ony of them so fawteth after iij times monysshed, to be discharged. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 36 If shotinge faulte at any tyme, it hydes it not..but openly accuseth and bewrayeth it selfe. c1611Sylvester Du Bartas (1621) ii. iv. iv. Decay 512 Let not our Fervour fault, Through length of Siege. a1677Manton Serm. Wks. (1871) II. 187 He hath exceedingly failed and faulted in his duty.
†b. quasi-trans. To fail or omit to (do something); to miss (one's aim). Obs.
1522St. Papers Hen. VIII, VI. 103 Wherin His Grace shall not faulte to indevour Hymself after his best power. 1527Knight in J. S. Brewer Henry VIII, xxviii. (1884) II. 224 The contents whereof I shall not fault to follow according unto your Grace's pleasure. 1591Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 53 Ile mend the fault, or fault my aime.
5. a. intr. To commit a fault, to do or go wrong, hence sometimes, to sin. Obs. exc. arch. rarely quasi-trans. with neut. pron. as obj. Const. against, to, toward. Also rarely, to fault it.
c1400Apol. Loll. 66 He fautid be error & be vnkunning. a1400–50Alexander 2659 ‘Quat has he fauted?’ quod þe frek. c1450Henryson Mor. Fab. 74, I faulted neuer to you truelie. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour cxxx. 182 Men shalle saye that she fawted in dede. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke xv. 132 Whatsoeuer I haue faulted, I haue faulted against him alone. 1549Compl. Scot. xiv. 122 I exort ȝou..that gyf ony of ȝou hes faltit contrar ȝour comont veil..that ȝe correct ȝour selfis. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. ix. xliv. (1612) 211 They..die in lingring Torments, who Fault to their Inquisition. a1603T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 27 He that marrieth another, faulteth against the former wife. 1625B. Jonson Staple of News ii. i, And where my dogs have faulted, Remove it with a broom. a1632T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. xxii. (1642) 86 The people of Cæsarea faulted greatly when..they called King Herod a god. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler 88 Poore Coblers well may fault it now and then, They'r ever mending faults for other men. 1825Scott Talism. xx, He hath foully faulted towards me, in failing to send the auxiliary aid he promised. 1871Browning Balaust. 96 Had I died for thee I had faulted more.
†b. of things. Obs.
1602Warner Alb. Eng. x. lx. (1612) 265 Somewhat some⁓where faulteth. 1608Bp. Hall Char. Virtues & V. ii. 101 Everie thing faulteth either in too much or too little.
†6. To make a mistake, be in error, blunder.
1530Palsgr. 546/2 It is no marvayle thoughe I faulte yet, I am but a begynner. c1550Cheke Matt. xviii, Y⊇ greak fauteth heer in y⊇ nomber. 1624Bedell Lett. vi. 95 Hee faults himselfe in the same kinde, that hee imputes to another. 1692Covt. Grace Conditional 47 If they faulted in any thing about the Matter in controversie, it was in giving too much to Faith. 1765Chesterfield Lett. (1890) 178 His tongue stammering and faulting.
7. a. trans. To find fault with, to blame or censure. Also † to fault (a person) with or that: to charge with, find fault with because.
1559Baldwin Mirr. Magistr. (1563) vi. b, Or shal I fault the fates that so ordayne? 1585Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 53 If it fall upon his head, let him fault himself. 1590T. Watson Eglogue death Sir F. Walsingham 276 (Arb.) 169 My mind..gins fault hir giuing place to sorrows sourse. 1633T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 4 The lion was faulted by the lioness, that his breath stank. 1677Cary Chronol. ii. ii. i. iii. 193 Josephus is to be faulted, for saying that it was in the 25th year. 1791Wolcott (P. Pindar) Rights of Kings Wks. 1812 II. 415 Fault the poor Flesh and quarrel with the Fish. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy xxi, What's that you're faulting now? is it my deal seats without cushions? 1850F. Trollope Petticoat Govt. 161 Her manner..could not, to use an American phrase, be ‘faulted’. 1866Lowell Biglow P. Introd., The Americanisms with which we are faulted. 1957Listener 9 May 736/1 One can fault the English for their indifference over long periods to Scottish susceptibilities. 1965New Statesman 30 Apr. 670/2 The Hall Green Conservatives can be faulted for selecting him. 1971Wall Street Jrnl. (Eastern ed.) 19 July 1/3 The..report{ddd}faults Agriculture Secretary Clifford Hardin for failing to take over state meat-inspection services that have failed to satisfy federal requirements.
b. To impugn or mark as faulty.
1585Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 233 Any deformity..in the body of a naked man..is soon espied and faulted. 1635Shelford Learned Disc. 54 God's house is abused by them which bring hither hawks and dogs, which is faulted in our Church-homilie. 1665J. Sergeant Sure Footing 58 If Protestants faulted not the Rule. 1882–3J. J. Mombert in Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. I. 736 Twenty-nine passages..faulted by Lawrence as incorrect. 1958Spectator 6 June 740/3 His final conclusion at least cannot be faulted. 1961Times 11 May 17/2 Perhaps some scholar will fault a detail.
8. Hunting. To put (a hound) at fault; to throw off the scent. rare.
1873W. S. Mayo Never again xii. 164 A way! By which we'll fault their staunchest hound.
9. Geol. and Mining. trans. Chiefly pass. To cause a fault (see fault n. 9) or break of continuity in; to dislocate; now also intr. to fault down or fault through: to depress (part of a stratum), to drive (part of it) through (another) with the result of causing a fault.
1849Murchison Siluria vii. 139 It is faulted on the north-west against Old Red Sandstone. 1863Dana Man. Geol. 111 If the stratum were inclined at 15° without faulting, it would stand as in fig. D. 1872W. S. Symonds Rec. Rocks, Black slates at Llandeilo are faulted through the Caradoc beds. 1879Rutley Stud. Rocks ii. 8 Portions of the already solidified crust were faulted down or depressed. 1883Science I. 101 An undulation which has overturned the folds, and has faulted them in some places. 1927Daily Express 5 July 11/4 A geological inexactitude which appears to have faulted or slipped from peaceful churchyard surroundings to a boisterous life in the ocean waves.
fig.1837Sir F. Palgrave Merch. & Friar ii. (1844) 39 Correct reasoning would suddenly be faulted, as it were, by a vein of wild credulity. |