failure

«failure» in Mova's school dictionary: not succeeding at something you tried to do — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a failure, failures; failure, uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Failure is not succeeding at something you tried to do. tree →

2) A failure is an attempt, plan or thing that did not work. tree →

3) A failure of a machine or body part is when it stops working, like a power failure. tree →

4) Failure to do something means not doing it when you should. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school and stories, failure is part of learning: scientists and inventors fail many times before they succeed. In everyday life a power failure means the lights go out. Phrases: «learn from failure», «end in failure», «a power failure», «failure to follow the rules».

examples

• Every failure taught the inventor something new. tree →
• Our first rocket was a failure, but the second one flew. tree →
• Don't be afraid of failure; just try. tree →
• The lights went out because of a power failure. tree →
• The plan ended in failure. tree →
• Engine failure made the plane land early. tree →
• Failure to wear a helmet can be dangerous. tree →
• But the spider did not lose hope with the sixth failure. tree →

note

Countable or uncountable. Verb: «fail». Calling a person «a failure» is unkind and untrue: one failed try does not make someone a failure. Science calls a failed test a result too; it tells you something.

In the corpora

• Crossing out and rewriting are a normal part of writing, not a sign of failure.
• "A learning opportunity" is spin for a failure or a mistake.
• Schools soften bad news about trouble and failure, and families soften bad news about pets.
• "Deferred success" is a joking UK phrase for failure.
• "A learning experience" often means an expensive failure.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «failure» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.