failed
past form of “fail” — fail to do something; leave something undone
An inflected form of fail · past form.
How often you will meet it
Rank 1,198 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 15,237 times across 155,168 chapters — 0.007% of every word in the library.
What it means
verb
- fail to do something; leave something undone also: neglect She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his cribThe secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account
- be unsuccessful also: go wrong, miscarry Where do today's public schools fail?The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably
- disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake also: betray His sense of smell failed him this timeHis strength finally failed him
- stop operating or functioning also: go bad, give way, die, give out, conk out, go The engine finally wentThe car died on the road
- be unable I fail to understand your motives
- judge unacceptable The teacher failed six students
failed in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
-
Then she had failed him at the moment of need.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1
-
And even the almighty duke failed to get him into Damer's, another grievance.
The Hill: A Romance of Friendship · Horace Annesley Vachell · Chapter 1
-
If they failed to do as she told them she would certainly beat them this time till they bled.
The Yellow Fairy Book: The Grateful Beasts · World Traditions (Celtic, Norse, Asian & Persian) · Chapter 1
-
If, at least, he had confined himself to these admonitions, which, by their very exaggeration, failed in their object!
Other People's Money · Emile Gaboriau · Chapter 1
-
For fast the streaks of ruddy sunset paled In the oak clearing, and, as daylight failed, Slow, overhead, the dusky night-birds sailed.
Pennsylvania Pilgrim, and other poems Part 6 From — Volume I · John Greenleaf Whittier · Chapter 1