Fault
WordNet
noun
(1) A wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
"He made a bad mistake"
"She was quick to point out my errors"
"I could understand his English in spite of his grammatical faults"
(2) (sports) a serve that is illegal (e.g., that lands outside the prescribed area)
"He served too many double faults"
(3) Responsibility for a bad situation or event
"It was John's fault"
(4) The quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection
"They discussed the merits and demerits of her novel"
"He knew his own faults much better than she did"
(5) (electronics) equipment failure attributable to some defect in a circuit (loose connection or insulation failure or short circuit etc.)
"It took much longer to find the fault than to fix it"
(6) (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other
"They built it right over a geological fault"
"He studied the faulting of the earth's crust"
(7) An imperfection in a device or machine
"If there are any defects you should send it back to the manufacturer"
verb
(8) Put or pin the blame on
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From faulte, faute from faute, faulte from faute, faulte from *fallita "shortcoming" from falsus, pp. of fallere "to deceive". Displaced native schuld, schuild "fault" (from scyld "fault"), lac "fault, lack" (from lak "lack, fault"), last "fault, vice" (from lǫstr, löstr "fault, vice, crime").
Noun
- A defect; something that detracts from perfection.
- A mistake or error.
- A weakness of character.
- A minor offense.
- Blame; the responsibility for a mistake.
- A fracture in a rock formation causing a discontinuity
- An illegal serve.
- An abnormal connection in a circuit.