fault 1 S2 W3 / fɔlt $ fɒlt / 名词 [可数名词]

1 responsible for mistake if something bad that has happened is your fault, you should be blamed for it, because you made a mistake or failed to do something :

I’m really sorry – it’s all my fault.

be sb’s fault (that)

It’s your fault we’re late.

I didn’t sleep well that night, but it was my own fault .

be sb’s fault for doing something

It’s my fault for not making your new job clearer.

2 at fault if someone is at fault, they are responsible for something bad that has happened :

The police said that the other driver was at fault.

Some people claim that it is the UN that is at fault.

3 something wrong with something

a) something that is wrong with a machine, system, design etc, which prevents it from working properly :

a design fault

fault in

It sounds as if there’s a fault in one of the loudspeakers.

b) something that is wrong with something, which could be improved 同义词 flaw :

There are two serious faults in Hobsbawm’s discussion of nationalism.

For all its faults (= in spite of its faults ) we love this city.

c) a mistake in the way that something was made, which spoils its appearance

fault in

The sweater had a fault in it and I had to take it back.

4 sb’s character a bad or weak part of someone’s character :

His worst fault is his arrogance.

I may have my faults , but ingratitude is not one of them.

For all his faults (= in spite of his faults ) he was a good father.

5 through no fault of her/my etc own used to say that something bad that happened to someone was not caused by them :

Through no fault of our own we are currently two players short.

6 crack a large crack in the rocks that form the Earth’s surface :

the San Andreas fault

7 generous/loyal/honest etc to a fault extremely generous, kind etc :

Barry’s kind, caring and generous to a fault.

8 tennis a mistake made when a player is serving the ball in tennis

→ double fault , → find fault with somebody/something at find 1 ( 14 )

THESAURUS Meaning 3

something wrong

fault a problem in a machine, system, design etc that causes damage or makes it not work properly : The fire was caused by an electrical fault. | a fault in the engine

defect a fault in something such as a product or machine, resulting from the way it was made or designed : Cars are tested for defects before they leave the factory.

weakness a part of a plan, system, or argument that is not as good as the other parts, and makes it likely to fail : What are the strengths and weaknesses of each method?

flaw a fault in a plan, system, argument etc, especially one that makes it useless or not effective : Your argument has a fundamental flaw. | There was one major flaw in his suggestion – we didn’t have enough money.

bug a fault in a computer program : A bug in the system was quickly fixed.

glitch a small fault in the way something works, that can usually be easily corrected : I noticed a small glitch when installing the software.

mistake something that is wrong in someone’s spelling, grammar, calculations etc : The article was full of spelling mistakes.

there’s something wrong with something used when saying that there is a problem in a machine, car etc, but you do not know what it is : There’s something wrong with the computer – it won’t close down.