fault noun

1 responsibility for sth wrong

ADJ. stupid It's his own stupid fault his car was stolen?he should have kept it locked.

FAULT + VERB lie with sb The fault lay not with her but with her manager.

PREP. at ~ The party at fault in a court case usually pays the other party's legal costs. | through sb's ~ Many of the soldiers died through his fault. | without ~ Having made an error of judgement she was not without fault in the matter.

PHRASES be all/entirely your (own) fault It's all your own fault, you know. | be largely/partly your (own) fault, be hardly your (own) fault, fault on sb's part (law) the absence of fault on the part of the prosecution | through no fault of your own helping people who, through no fault of their own, have lost their homes

2 weakness in sb's character

ADJ. great Her great fault was that she thought too well of herself. | moral

VERB + FAULT have We all have our faults. | be blind to, overlook He is blind to his son's faults. She was prepared to overlook his faults.

PREP. ~ in Incorrectness in speech was considered a great fault in a gentleman.

PHRASES for all sb's faults For all her faults (= in spite of her faults) she was a great woman. | to a fault He is generous to a fault (= very generous and perhaps too generous).

3 sth wrong or not perfect with sth

ADJ. bad, major, serious | basic There is a basic fault in the design of the engine. It cannot be fixed. | dangerous | minor | common a common fault with this type of machine | real The only real fault of the book is its looseness of structure. | obvious | possible | design | technical | electrical, engine, mechanical, structural Of course, minor mechanical faults sometimes occur.

VERB + FAULT have The engine has a serious fault. | develop The car soon developed another fault. | look for | diagnose, discover, find, identify, locate They've found a major fault with the electrical system. When she tested the recorder she could find no fault with it. | find, pick My mother did nothing but find fault with my schoolboy manners. He's deliberately picking fault with the meal to get a reduction on the bill. | correct, fix, rectify, repair trying to correct the faults in the program | report You should report any fault directly to the phone company.

FAULT + VERB occur | lie in sth The fault lay in the structure of the economy.

FAULT + NOUN detection, diagnosis, finding

PREP. ~ in Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body. | ~ with She was always finding fault with his manners.

PHRASES for all its faults For all its faults (= in spite of the faults), we love this city.

4 in tennis

ADJ. double | foot

VERB + FAULT serve Even tennis champions sometimes serve double faults.

5 geology

ADJ. geological

FAULT + NOUN line | scarp | system, zone

You can also check other dicts: fault (English, 中文解释 ), wordnet sense, Collins Definition

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