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单词 fail
释义
fail
(fl )
Word forms: fails , failing , failed
1. verb B2
If you fail to do something that you were trying to do, you are unable to do it or do not succeed in doing it.
The Workers' Party failed to win a single governorship. [VERB to-infinitive]
He failed in his attempt to take control of the company. [VERB + in]
Many of us have tried to lose weight and failed miserably. [VERB]
The truth is, I'm a failed comedy writer really. [VERB-ed]
2. verb B2
If an activity, attempt, or plan fails, it is not successful.
We tried to develop plans for them to get along, which all failed miserably. [VERB]
He was afraid the revolution they had started would fail. [VERB]
Scotch-Irish emigration began with the failed harvest of 1717. [VERB-ed]
Synonyms: be unsuccessful, founder, fall flat, come to nothing  
3. verb B2
If someone or something fails to do a particular thing that they should have done, they do not do it. [formal]
Some schools fail to set any homework. [VERB to-infinitive]
He failed to file tax returns for 1982. [VERB to-infinitive]
The bomb failed to explode. [VERB to-infinitive]
4. verb B2
If something fails, it stops working properly, or does not do what it is supposed to do.
The lights mysteriously failed, and we stumbled around in complete darkness. [VERB]
In fact many food crops failed because of the drought. [VERB]
Synonyms: wither, perish, sag, droop  
5. verb B2
If a business, organization, or system fails, it becomes unable to continue in operation or in existence. [business]
So far this year, 104 banks have failed. [VERB]
...a failed hotel business. [VERB-ed]
Who wants to buy a computer from a failing company? [VERB-ing]
Synonyms: go bankrupt, crash, collapse, fold [informal]  
6. verb
If something such as your health or a physical quality is failing, it is becoming gradually weaker or less effective.
He was 58, and his health was failing rapidly. [VERB]
Here in the hills, the light failed more quickly. [VERB]
An apparently failing memory is damaging for a national leader. [VERB-ing]
Synonyms: give out, disappear, fade, dim  
7. verb
If someone fails you, they do not do what you had expected or trusted them to do.
We waited twenty-one years, don't fail us now. [VERB noun]
...communities who feel that the political system has failed them. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: disappoint, abandon, desert, neglect  
8. verb
If someone fails in their duty or fails in their responsibilities, they do not do everything that they have a duty or a responsibility to do.
Lawyers are accused of failing in their duties to advise clients of their rights. [VERB in noun]
If we did not report what was happening in the country, we would be failing in our duty. [VERB + in]
9. verb
If a quality or ability that you have fails you, or if it fails, it is not good enough in a particular situation to enable you to do what you want to do.
For once, the artist's fertile imagination failed him. [VERB noun]
Their courage failed a few steps short and they came running back. [VERB]
10. verb A2
If someone fails a test, examination, or course, they perform badly in it and do not reach the standard that is required.
I lived in fear of failing my end-of-term exams. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: not pass, be unsuccessful, flunk [informal], screw up [informal]  
Fail is also a noun.
It's the difference between a pass and a fail.
exam
11. verb
If someone fails you in a test, examination, or course, they judge that you have not reached a high enough standard in it.
...the two men who had failed him during his first year of law school. [VERB noun]
12. if all else fails phrase
You say if all else fails to suggest what could be done in a certain situation if all the other things you have tried are unsuccessful.
If all else fails, I could always drive a truck.
13. I fail to see/I fail to understand phrase [PHRASE wh]
You can use I fail to see or I fail to understand in order to introduce a statement which indicates that you do not agree with what someone has said or done. [formal]
That's how it was in my day and I fail to see why it should be different now.
14. without fail phrase
You use without fail to emphasize that something always happens. [emphasis]
He attended every meeting without fail.
Synonyms: without exception, regularly, constantly, invariably  
15. without fail phrase
You use without fail to emphasize an order or a promise. [emphasis]
On the 30th you must without fail hand in some money for Alex.
Tomorrow without fail he would be at the old riverside warehouse.
Collocations:
fail a test
Maybe they failed a test once, in the second grade.
Globe and Mail (2014)
This is the first time that an athlete has been banned for four years for failing a test.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Half drop out because they fail a test that judges how well they interpret the images on scanner screens.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
fail an inspection
Vehicles that fail the inspection, however, receive a red certificate.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
Local authorities that failed an inspection could have senior officials removed or school improvement services out-sourced to a not-for-profit trust or private company.
Times, Sunday Times
Several are understood to have failed the inspections and could be closed down.
Times, Sunday Times
The school was reported to have failed the inspection and to have been judged inadequate - the lowest of four ratings - in all areas.
Times, Sunday Times
Twenty-five per cent more primary schools failed their inspection in the autumn term than in the summer.
Times, Sunday Times
fail miserably
He ended up on the scrapheap after failing miserably to sell supercars.
The Sun (2008)
The administrative offices, under his command for nearly a decade, failed miserably to do their duty.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Of course they were all utterly hopeless at doing something practical that requires a bit of elbow grease and failed miserably in the first basic cleaning task.
The Sun (2009)
He was a great footballer, but has failed miserably as a presenter.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Lola tried to see icebound Steeple Fritton through his eyes and failed miserably.
Christina Jones TICKLED PINK (2002)
fail repeatedly
That's the fundamental insight of economics and it explains why some policies fail repeatedly.
Times, Sunday Times
I've tried to 'whiteknuckle' my way to sobriety but fail repeatedly.
The Sun
The current system of police authorities - appointed bodies of councillors and community representatives - had failed repeatedly when police chiefs courted controversy, he claimed.
Times, Sunday Times
The firm failed repeatedly to address the issues raised.
The Sun
A judge previously said that he had failed repeatedly to produce evidence of his true finances.
Times, Sunday Times
fail spectacularly
For others, it's a bold experiment that could still fail spectacularly as the world goes into economic slowdown.
Times, Sunday Times
This regulatory approach, just like previous attempts, will fail spectacularly.
Times, Sunday Times
Many fans want it to fail spectacularly.
Times, Sunday Times
On a visit to a showcase factory, however, he fails spectacularly to speak to any of the workers without their attentive bosses hovering nearby.
Times, Sunday Times
On this point, at least, she failed spectacularly.
Times, Sunday Times
fail utterly
Such crushing euphemisms as 'plain' and 'homely' fail utterly to capture her unattractiveness.
Times, Sunday Times
It failed utterly to change the voting system or the educational system to anything like the extent its members had hoped.
Times, Sunday Times
And he failed utterly in day-to-day political management.
Times, Sunday Times
It would be easy to conclude that the public health establishment had failed utterly to reach a helpful consensus.
Times, Sunday Times
We had not failed utterly, however.
Times, Sunday Times
failing business
Detectives believe he had been propping up his failing business with cash from the fund.
Times, Sunday Times
Closing a failing business that you have spent months or even years trying to make work can be devastating.
Times, Sunday Times
With a failing business, they have used all their savings to survive.
The Sun
In normal circumstances, our government should not intervene to save a failing business, but what if circumstances are not normal?
Times, Sunday Times
A failing school, like a failing business, cannot usually be saved except by closure or takeover.
Times, Sunday Times
failing health
Despite failing health, her humour, charm, zest for life and love of horses remained undiminished.
Times, Sunday Times
But when it became clear from his failing health that the exhibition might need to be rethought, it was decided to combine the two.
The Times Literary Supplement
His claim that reports of his failing health were 'erroneous' added to the impression that all was not well.
Times, Sunday Times
He retired from politics in early 2007 as a result of his failing health.
Times, Sunday Times
Economic growth and prosperity are illusions in a country bedevilled by a failing health system.
ST
failing memory
He shuffles, and complains of poor physical health and failing memory.
Times, Sunday Times
For every year a person remains in learning, the risk of failing memory and loss of control falls by 11 per cent.
The Sun
Spotting signs of trouble - such as a failing memory - earlier rather than later may help, at least in some ways.
Times, Sunday Times
She has talked about taking lessons to improve her own failing memory.
Times, Sunday Times
Doctors call this 'perseveration', which can be because of anxiety about a failing memory.
Times, Sunday Times
mission fails
When her mission fails, she's stuck in a terrifying new life.
The Sun
The mission fails and the pair are relegated to desk duty.
Times, Sunday Times
There will be no way 'to put that genie back in the bottle' if this mission fails, he said.
Times, Sunday Times
If this sibling mission fails, then the task falls to you, but you will need to be firm and resolute.
Times, Sunday Times
If the mission fails, it will be punished in every week.
Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0
negotiations fail
It would be 'very bad' if the negotiations fail.
Times, Sunday Times
Both countries also face awful choices if the negotiations fail.
Times, Sunday Times
If these negotiations fail, it will not just be a lost opportunity.
Times, Sunday Times
It will also have to provide consular support to the very large number of its citizens who would be in legal limbo should negotiations fail.
Times, Sunday Times
An incentive to reach agreement was built into the system, in the form of automatic spending cuts and tax rises should negotiations fail.
Times, Sunday Times
venture fails
If the business venture fails to reach its target fundraising, everyone who has pledged money via the platform will get this back.
Times, Sunday Times
He also advises that before taking the plunge, you should work out what you might lose if your venture fails.
Times, Sunday Times
Entrepreneurs risk losing much of their pension pot if their venture fails.
Times, Sunday Times
Translations:
Chinese: 失败
Japanese: 失敗する
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更新时间:2024/11/15 10:34:34