a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention; he made a bad mistake; she was quick to point out my errors; I could understand his English in spite of his grammatical faults

[ Syn: mistake , error ]

an imperfection in an object or machine; a flaw caused the crystal to shatter; if there are any defects you should send it back to the manufacturer

[ Syn: defect , flaw ]

the quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection; they discussed the merits and demerits of her novel; he knew his own faults much better than she did

[ Syn: demerit ]

(geology) a crack in the earths crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other; they built it right over a geological fault; he studied the faulting of the earths crust

[ Syn: faulting , geological fault , shift , fracture , break ]

(electronics) equipment failure attributable to some defect in a circuit (loose connection or insulation failure or short circuit etc.); it took much longer to find the fault than to fix it'

responsibility for a bad situation or event; it was John's fault'

(sports) a serve that is illegal (e.g., that lands outside the prescribed area); he served too many double faults'

put or pin the blame on

[ Syn: blame ]