fault

fault1 [ fɔlt ] noun ***

1. ) count or uncount the fact of being responsible for a bad or unpleasant situation:

be someone's fault: It's my fault I forgot to give him the message.

be someone's fault (that): It's not my fault that we're late.

be someone's own fault: If you didn't get enough sleep, it's your own fault.

be all someone's fault: We missed our flight and it's all your fault!

be someone's fault for doing something: It was partly the teacher's fault for not explaining things clearly enough.

through no fault of your own: He seems to have lost the job through no fault of his own.

the fault lies with: If a child does not attend school, the fault lies with the parent.

2. ) count a feature of something that makes it less good:

The book's main fault is that it is too long.

for all something's faults (=despite them): For all its faults, it is still the best small car on the market.

a ) a problem with a machine or piece of equipment that stops it from working correctly:

fault in: An engineer was called out to repair a fault in the alarm system.

an electrical/mechanical/technical fault: The fire was caused by an electrical fault.

b ) a bad part of someone's character:

She has her faults, but on the whole she's very nice.

for all someone's faults (=despite them): For all his faults, he's been a very good friend to me.

c ) MAINLY BRITISH a small mistake in a product that spoils its appearance slightly and makes it less than perfect

3. ) count a SERVICE in tennis in which the ball does not land inside the correct area

4. ) count a crack on or below the Earth's surface:

a geological fault

the San Andreas Fault

at fault

responsible for a bad or unpleasant situation:

When a marriage breaks up it is very hard to say who is at fault.

The teacher was at fault for not telling the child's parents.

find fault with

to criticize someone or something, often after deliberately looking for mistakes:

It's demoralizing to work for someone who constantly finds fault with you.

to a fault FORMAL

used for emphasizing that someone or something has a particular good quality to a very great degree:

be generous/loyal/honest etc. to a fault: He's a very kindhearted man, and generous to a fault.

fault

fault 2 [ fɔlt ] verb transitive

to find something bad or wrong in a person or thing:

I can't fault the players for their effort and commitment.

be hard/difficult to fault: Sophie's performance was difficult to fault.