verb

1. get worse

e.g. Her health is declining

2. stop operating or functioning

e.g. The engine finally went
The car died on the road
The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town
The coffee maker broke
The engine failed on the way to town
her eyesight went after the accident

Synonym: go badgive waydiegive outconk outgobreakbreak down

3. prove insufficient

e.g. The water supply for the town failed after a long drought

Synonym: run outgive out

4. disappoint, prove undependable to
abandon, forsake

e.g. His sense of smell failed him this time
His strength finally failed him
His children failed him in the crisis

Synonym: betray

5. become bankrupt or insolvent
fail financially and close

e.g. The toy company went bankrupt after the competition hired cheap Mexican labor
A number of banks failed that year

6. fall short in what is expected

e.g. She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law
We must not fail his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust

7. fail to get a passing grade

e.g. She studied hard but failed nevertheless
Did I fail the test?

Synonym: flunkbombflush it

8. judge unacceptable

e.g. The teacher failed six students

9. be unsuccessful

e.g. Where do today's public schools fail?
The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably

Synonym: go wrongmiscarry

10. fail to do something
leave something undone

e.g. She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib
The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account

Synonym: neglect

11. be unable

e.g. I fail to understand your motives

noun

1. a playing card in the major suit that has one or more red hearts on it

e.g. he led the queen of hearts
hearts were trumps

2. an inclination or tendency of a certain kind

e.g. he had a change of heart

Synonym: spirit

3. the courage to carry on

e.g. he kept fighting on pure spunk
you haven't got the heart for baseball

Synonym: mettlenervespunk

4. the hollow muscular organ located behind the sternum and between the lungs
its rhythmic contractions move the blood through the body

e.g. he stood still, his heart thumping wildly

Synonym: pumpticker

5. the locus of feelings and intuitions

e.g. in your heart you know it is true
her story would melt your bosom

Synonym: bosom

6. the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience

e.g. the gist of the prosecutor's argument
the heart and soul of the Republican Party
the nub of the story

Synonym: kernelsubstancecorecentercentreessencegistheart and soulinwardnessmarrowmeatnubpithsumnitty-gritty

7. a positive feeling of liking

e.g. he had trouble expressing the affection he felt
the child won everyone's heart
the warmness of his welcome made us feel right at home

Synonym: affectionaffectionatenessfondnesstendernesswarmnesswarmheartednessphilia

8. a firm rather dry variety meat (usually beef or veal)

e.g. a five-pound beef heart will serve six

9. an area that is approximately central within some larger region

e.g. it is in the center of town
they ran forward into the heart of the struggle
they were in the eye of the storm

Synonym: centercentremiddleeye

10. a plane figure with rounded sides curving inward at the top and intersecting at the bottom
conventionally used on playing cards and valentines

e.g. he drew a heart and called it a valentine

noun

1. a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter

e.g. he told a very funny joke
he knows a million gags
thanks for the laugh
he laughed unpleasantly at his own jest
even a schoolboy's jape is supposed to have some ascertainable point

Synonym: jokegagjestjape

2. a facial expression characteristic of a person laughing

e.g. his face wrinkled in a silent laugh of derision

3. the sound of laughing

Synonym: laughter

noun

1. electro-acoustic transducer for converting electric signals into sounds
it is held over or inserted into the ear

e.g. it was not the typing but the earphones that she disliked

Synonym: earphoneearpieceheadphone

2. electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds

e.g. I talked to him on the telephone

Synonym: telephonetelephone set

3. (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language

Synonym: speech soundsound

noun

1. a large natural stream of water (larger than a creek)

e.g. the river was navigable for 50 miles