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1. Not do something; leave something undone
   "The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account"; "She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib";
   - neglect
    
2. Be unsuccessful
   "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably";
   - go wrong, miscarry
    
3. Disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake
   "His strength finally failed him"; "His children failed him in the crisis"; "His sense of smell failed him this time";
   - betray
    
4. Stop operating or functioning
   "The engine failed on the way to town";
   - go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out [informal], go, break, break down, pack up [Brit, informal]
    
5. Be unable
   "I fail to understand your motives"
    
6. Judge unacceptable
   "The teacher failed six students"
    
7. Be unsuccessful in a test, get lower than the passing grade
   "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?";
   - flunk [N. Amer, informal], bomb, flush it
    
8. Fall short in what is expected
   "She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law"; "We must not fail his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust"
    
9. Become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close
   "A number of banks failed that year"
    
10. Prove insufficient
    "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought";
    - run out, give out
     
11. Deteriorate

1. A non-passing grade in an examination or test

Derived forms: failing, failed, fails

Type of: change, decline, disappoint, evaluate, judge, let down, pass judgment, worsen

Antonym: come through, pass, pull off

Encyclopedia: Fail, Viseu