# fault

Pronunciation: say "FAWLT" US /fɔlt/, UK /fɔːlt/

## Noun

1. Responsibility or blame for a wrongful or harmful event.
   - Simple: The blame for something bad that happened or went wrong.
   - _The committee concluded the fault lay with the contractor, not the architect._
   - _Drivers often dispute who is at fault after a minor collision._
2. A defect or weak point that makes something imperfect or likely to fail, such as a flaw in a machine, a design or a material.
   - Simple: Something wrong with a thing, such as a weak spot in how it is made, that stops it working well.
   - _A design fault caused thousands of the new laptops to overheat within months of sale._
   - _Whatever its faults, the report remains the most thorough study of the problem so far._
3. A fracture in rock along which the two sides have moved relative to each other.
   - Simple: A crack in the earth's rock where the rock on one side has moved against the other side.
   - _Movement along the fault triggered a magnitude six earthquake._
   - _The region's many faults make it prone to frequent seismic activity._
5. A weakness or bad point in someone's character, usually a minor one that falls short of a vice.
   - Simple: A bad thing about a person's character, usually a small one, like being impatient or too proud.
   - _Impatience was his worst fault, and he admitted it freely._
   - _Generosity became a fault once people learned they could take advantage of him._
6. A mistake or wrong act, such as an error in a piece of work or a minor misdeed.
   - Simple: A mistake, or a small wrong thing that someone does.
   - _The examiner took points off for each fault in grammar and punctuation._
   - _The choir sang the whole program without a fault, even in the hardest passages._
7. An abnormal connection or break within an electric circuit that disrupts its intended operation.
   - Simple: A bad connection or break in an electric circuit.
   - _The protective relay tripped the moment a fault appeared on the line._
   - _Insulation breakdown is a common cause of faults in high-voltage equipment._
9. An illegal or invalid serve in tennis that fails to start the point properly.
   - Simple: A serve that breaks the rules in tennis and does not count.
   - _The umpire called a fault when her serve landed well beyond the service box._
   - _A double fault handed his opponent the crucial break point._
10. An exception or error condition arising within a running software program or process.
   - Simple: A problem that comes up while a program is running and has to be handled, such as a bad memory access.
   - _The developers traced the fault to a null pointer in the login module._
   - _A memory fault forced the server to restart unexpectedly._
12. A penalty point assessed against a competitor in equestrian events such as show jumping.
   - Simple: A penalty point given to a rider in horse contests like show jumping.
   - _Going a few seconds over the time allowed cost him a single time fault._
   - _He accumulated eight faults over the course._
13. An unwanted taste, smell or other defect in a food or drink, especially wine, often caused by spoilage or contamination.
   - Simple: An unwanted taste, smell, or other problem in food or drink, especially wine, often from spoiling.
   - _The sommelier detected a fault in the bottle and sent it back._
   - _Cork taint is among the most common faults found in wine._

## Verb

4. To criticize or blame someone or something for a mistake or shortcoming.
   - Simple: To say that someone or something is wrong or not good enough.
   - _Critics faulted the report for ignoring key pieces of evidence._
   - _No one could fault her commitment to the project._
8. Of rock, to fracture and undergo displacement along a plane in the Earth's crust.
   - Simple: For rock, to crack along a line so that one side moves against the other side.
   - _The strata faulted under enormous tectonic pressure._
   - _Ancient bedrock will fault when stress exceeds its strength._
11. To go wrong by making a mistake or doing something wrong; to err.
   - Simple: To make a mistake or do something wrong.
   - _Even the best riders fault at that fence when the ground is wet._
   - _Even strong players fault on their serve when the pressure builds late in a close match._

## Noun

14. A want, lack, or absence of something. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A lack or absence of something.

## Other meanings

- (verb) Of a running process, to access a memory page that is not in physical memory, forcing the system to load it.
- (noun) A point where something stops being continuous because it is divided, interrupted, or disconnected there.
- (noun) An intrusion of foreign material, such as dirt or slate, occurring within a coal seam.
- (noun) A momentary loss of the scent that a hound has been tracking.

## Origin

From Middle English faute, from Anglo-Norman and Old French faute, from Vulgar Latin *fallita ('shortcoming'), feminine of *fallitus, which took the place of Latin falsus, the past participle of fallō ('to deceive'). It displaced native Middle English schuld (from Old English scyld) and other early words for 'fault'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fault (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).