fail‧ure S3 W2 / feɪljə $ -ər / 名词
1 lack of success [可数和不可数名词] a lack of success in achieving or doing something 反义词 success :
Successful people often aren’t very good at dealing with failure.
failure to do something
the conference’s failure to reach an agreement
2 unsuccessful person/thing [可数名词] someone or something that is not successful 反义词 success :
I always felt a bit of a failure at school.
3 failure to do something an act of not doing something which should be done or which people expect you to do :
Failure to produce proof of identity could result in prosecution.
4 business [可数和不可数名词] a situation in which a business has to close because of a lack of money :
Business failures in Scotland rose 10% last year.
5 machine/body part [可数和不可数名词] an occasion when a machine or part of your body stops working properly :
The cause of the crash was engine failure.
heart/kidney/liver etc failure
He died from kidney failure.
failure in
a failure in the computer system
6 crops [可数和不可数名词] an occasion when crops do not grow or produce food, for example because of bad weather :
a series of crop failures
COLLOCATIONS
动词
end in/result in failure A series of rescue attempts ended in failure.
be doomed to failure (= be certain to fail ) The rebellion was doomed to failure from the start.
admit failure He was too proud to admit failure.
accept failure Being able to accept failure is part of life.
avoid failure She was anxious to avoid failure.
形容词
complete/total/utter failure The project ended in total failure.
abject/dismal failure (= used to emphasize how bad a failure is ) The experiment was considered a dismal failure.
a personal failure (= a failure that is someone’s personal fault ) He considered his inability to form long-term relationships to be a personal failure.
economic failure Economic failure drove the government out of office.
短语
fear of failure Fear of failure should not deter you from trying.
the risk/possibility of failure The risk of failure for a new product is very high. | The possibility of failure was sufficiently high for the auditors to warn investors.
an admission of failure Dropping out of college would be an admission of failure.
a history of failure (= a situation in which someone has failed many times in the past ) Some children have a history of failure at school.
a string of failures (= a series of failures ) The team has had a string of failures in recent games.
a sense of failure People may feel a sense of failure if they admit they have ended up in a job they hate.
the consequences of failure The political consequences of failure would be defeat at the next election.
failure + NOUN
a failure rate There is a high failure rate in the restaurant industry.
THESAURUS
failure 名词 [可数名词] someone or something that is not successful : The book was a complete failure. | I felt a complete failure.
flop 名词 [可数名词] informal something that is not successful because people do not like it – used especially about a film, play, product, or performance : Despite the hype, the movie was a flop at the box office. | Their next computer was a flop.
disaster 名词 [可数名词] used when saying that something is extremely unsuccessful : Our first date was a disaster. | Their marriage was a total disaster.
fiasco 名词 [可数名词，通常单数] something that is completely unsuccessful and goes very badly wrong – used especially about things that have been officially planned, which go very wrong : The baggage system broke down on the first day the airport was open. It was a complete fiasco. | The fiasco came close to ending de Gaulle’s political career.
debacle 名词 [可数名词，通常单数] formal an event or situation that is a complete failure, because it does not happen in the way that it was officially planned : the banking debacle that has put our economy at risk
shambles 名词 [单数形式] especially British English if a situation or event is a shambles, it is completely unsuccessful because it has been very badly planned or organized, and no one seems to know what to do : The first few shows were a shambles, but things soon got better.
washout 名词 [单数形式] informal a failure – used when something is so bad that it would be better if it had not happened : The play wasn’t a complete washout; the acting was okay. | His most recent and ambitious project, a big-budget Hollywood film, was a washout with both critics and audiences alike.
turkey 名词 [可数名词] informal something that is so bad and unsuccessful that you think the people involved should be embarrassed about it – a very informal use : At the time most people thought the car was a complete turkey. | Since then he has appeared in a string of turkeys.