fault

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fault

top: normal fault center: reverse fault bottom: strike-slip fault (Precision Graphics)

1. 1. A character weakness, especially a minor one.
   2. Something that impairs or detracts from physical perfection; a defect. See synonyms at blemish.
   3. A mistake; an error.
   4. A minor offense or misdeed.
2. Responsibility for a mistake or an offense; culpability. See synonyms at blame.
3. Geology. A fracture in the continuity of a rock formation caused by a shifting or dislodging of the earth's crust, in which adjacent surfaces are displaced relative to one another and parallel to the plane of fracture. Also called shift.
4. Electronics. A defect in a circuit or wiring caused by imperfect connections, poor insulation, grounding, or shorting.
5. Sports. A bad service, as in tennis.
6. Obsolete. A lack or deficiency.

1. To find error or defect in; criticize or blame.
2. Geology. To produce a fault in; fracture.

1. To commit a mistake or an error.
2. Geology. To shift so as to produce a fault.

at fault

1. Deserving of blame; guilty: admitted to being at fault.
2. Confused and puzzled.

1. To seek, find, and complain about faults; criticize: found fault with his speech.

1. To an excessive degree: generous to a fault.

[Middle English faulte, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *fallita, from variant of Latin falsa, feminine past participle of fallere, to deceive, fail.]

An error or failure. A software fault, also known as a "crash" or "abend," is when the program directs the computer to go outside of its restricted memory boundary. A hardware fault is a failure in one of the circuits. See fault detection, fault isolation and fault management. See also page fault.

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noun

1. An imperfection of character: failing, foible, frailty, infirmity, shortcoming, weakness, weak point. See better/worse, help/harm/harmless.
2. Something that mars the appearance or causes inadequacy or failure: blemish, bug, defect, flaw, imperfection, shortcoming. See beautiful/ugly, better/worse, help/harm/harmless.
3. Responsibility for an error or crime: blame, culpability, guilt, onus. See start/end.

verb

To find fault with: blame, censure, criticize, rap¹. Informal cut up, pan. Slang knock. See praise/blame.

Definition: blame, sin; mistake
Antonyms: advantage, benefit, blessing, correctness, good, perfection

n

Definition: physical defect
Antonyms: perfection, soundness, strength

A fractured surface in the earth's crust along which rocks have travelled relative to each other; the fault bounding the Teton Range, Wyoming, for example, is nearly 50 km long, with an estimated vertical throw of about 6000 m. Usually, faults occur together in large numbers, parallel to each other or crossing each other at different angles; these are then described as a fault system. The slope of the fault is known as the dip. Where rocks have moved down the dip there is a normal fault; where rocks have moved up the dip, there is a reverse fault.

A thrust fault is a reverse fault where the angle of dip is very shallow and an overthrust fault has a nearly horizontal dip. A fault plane is the surface against which the movement takes place. A tear fault is where movement along the fault plane is lateral. This latter type of fault may be termed a strike-slip fault.

Regions, such as the Harz of Germany, that are split by faults into upland horsts or depressed rift valleys are said to be block faulted.

Fault

For more information on fault, visit Britannica.com.

A defect in the insulation or conductive capability of any component or device in an electric circuit, resulting in an interruption of current flow or in an unintended path of current flow of abnormal magnitude.

In geology, a place where sections of the crust of the Earth move relative to each other. (See earthquake and San Andreas fault.)

A fracture along which there has been movement or displacement.

Quotes:

"None of us can stand other people having the same faults as ourselves." - Oscar Wilde

"We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies it is the first law of nature." - Voltaire

"A fault that humbles a man is of greater value than a virtue that puffs him up." - Source Unknown

"When looking for faults use a mirror, not a telescope" - Source Unknown

"A spirit to find fault is an enemy to your peace and comfort, and also to the happiness of those around you. It is the key to your destruction." - Source Unknown

"Faults are beauties in a lovers eye." - Theocritus

See more famous quotes about Faults

Look up fault in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Fault may refer to:

• Fault (geology), planar rock fractures which show evidence of relative movement
• Fault (technology), an abnormal condition or defect at the component, equipment, or sub-system level which may lead to a failure
• An asymmetric fault or symmetric fault in an electric power system
• Fault (dog), in dog breeding, is an undesireable aspect of structure or appearance that indicates the dog should not be bred
• In tennis, a "fault" could be either a foot fault or a service fault, where an aspect of the server's serve is not in line with the rules of the game
• Fault (legal), in criminal law, one must determine fault in a crime.
• Fault (electrical), an unintended electrical connection commonly referred to as a "short circuit".

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - fejl, skyld, forkastning
v. tr. - finde fejl ved, forskyde, kritisere
v. intr. - fejle, begå en fejl, forårsage en forkastning

idioms:

• at fault    være forvirret, have skylden
• to a fault    i urimelig grad

Nederlands (Dutch)
schuld, fout, euvel, onvolkomenheid, slechte eigenschap, overtreding, (aard)breuk, foute service (tennis), een fout maken, een (aard) breuk veroorzaken, fout vinden in, berispen

Français (French)
n. - faute, vice, défaut, imperfection, panne
v. tr. - prendre qn en défaut, reprocher qch à qn, trouver un défaut dans
v. intr. - être la faute de qn

idioms:

• at fault    fautif, en tort, à blâmer
• to a fault    à l'excès

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schuld, Verschulden, Fehler, Mangel, Defekt, Verwerfung
v. - etwas auszusetzen haben

idioms:

• at fault    schuldig
• to a fault    übermäßig

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ατέλεια, ελάττωμα, κουσούρι, λάθος, φταίξιμο, (γεωλ.) (τεκτονικό) ρήγμα
v. - διαπράττω ατόπημα ή σφάλμα, ψέγω

idioms:

• at fault    εν αδίκω
• to a fault    μέχρις υπερβολής

Italiano (Italian)
colpa, colpevolezza, errore, difetto

idioms:

• at fault    colpevole
• to a fault    eccessivamente

Português (Portuguese)
n. - falta (f), defeito (m)
v. - cometer erro ou falta

idioms:

• at fault    errado
• to a fault    em demasia

Русский (Russian)
недостаток, дефект, вина, ошибка, промах, проступок, нарушение, замыкание, разлом

idioms:

• at fault    виноватый, ошибаться
• to a fault    слишком, чрезмерно

Español (Spanish)
n. - culpa, culpabilidad, defecto, falta, desperfecto, vicio, deficiencia, imperfección, error, pelota extraviada, (geol) falla, (elect) fuga de corriente, (cacería) pérdida del olfato
v. tr. - producir falla, culpar
v. intr. - (geol) quebrar produciendo falla, cometer una falla

idioms:

• at fault    tener la culpa, perplejo
• to a fault    excesivamente

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - fel, skuld, felserve (tennis), förkastning (geol.)
v. - anmärka på, döma för felserve, förkasta (geol.), serva fel, förkasta sig (geol.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
过错, 毛病, 故障, 挑剔, 弄错

idioms:

• at fault    感到困惑, 有故障
• to a fault    过分

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 過錯, 毛病, 故障
v. tr. - 挑剔
v. intr. - 弄錯

idioms:

• at fault    感到困惑, 有故障
• to a fault    過分

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 결점, 단점, 잘못
v. tr. - ~의 흠을 찾다, ~비난하다
v. intr. - 과오를 범하다

idioms:

• at fault    어쩔 줄을 모르고, 죄가 있어, 잘못하여
• to a fault    지나치게, 극단적으로

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 欠点, 短所, 欠陥, 誤り, 過失, 落ち度, 断層, 責任, 罪, フォールト, あら
v. - …にけちを付ける, 断層を生じる

idioms:

• at fault    臭跡を失って, 途方に暮れて
• to a fault    極端に

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) عيب , ذنب , خطأ , غلطه (فعل) يخطأ , يزل , يعيب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮טעות, פגם, תקלה, ליקוי, עבירה, אשמה, בקע גיאולוגי‬
v. tr. - ‮מצא פגם ב-, האשים, ביקע שכבה גיאולוגית‬
v. intr. - ‮שגה, עשה דבר שלא כהלכה‬

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