Fāil1, v. i.
v. i. [imp. & p. p. FAILED; p. pr. & vb. n. FAILING.] [Fr. & Pr. faillir, O. Sp. & O. Pg. fallir, falir, now fallecer, falecer, It. fallire, to fail, to deceive, from Lat. fallere, to deceive. The Ger. fehler is also derived from the Fr. faillir.]
Sense 1. To be wanting; to fall short; to be deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence; to cease to be furnished in the usual or expected manner, or to be altogether cut off from supply; to be lacking; as, streams fail; crops fail.
The waters fail from the sea. Job xiv. 11.
Till Lionel’s issue fails, his should not reign. Shak.
Sense 2. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient in provision or unprovided.
If ever they fail of beauty, this failure is not to be attributed to their size. Burke.
Sense 3. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink.
When earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude they then begin to fail. Milton.
Sense 4. To fall off in respect to vigor, activity, resources, or the like; to become weaker; as, a sick man fails.
Sense 5. To become extinct; to perish; to die.
Lest the remembrance of his grief should fail. Addison.
The king in his last sickness failed. Shak.
Sense 6. To be found wanting with respect to an effect, or a duty to be performed, a result to be secured, or the like; to miss.
Either my eye-sight fails, or thou look’st pale. Shak.
Sense 7. To come short of an effect or object aimed at or desired; to be disappointed of access or attainment; to be baffled or frustrated. “Our envious foe hath failed.” Milton.
Sense 8. To become unable to meet one’s engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one’s debts or discharge one’s business obligations; to become bankrupt or insolvent.