fault (
http://definr.com/fault)
n 1: responsibility for a bad situation or event; "it was John's
fault"
2: (geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the
displacement of one side with respect to the other; "they
built it right over a geological fault" [syn: {geological
fault},
shift,
fracture,
break]
3: 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] [ant:
merit]
4: 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]
5: an imperfection in a device or machine; "if there are any
defects you should send it back to the manufacturer" [syn:
defect,
flaw]
6: (tennis or badminton or squash) a serve that is illegal
(e.g., that lands outside the prescribed area); "he served
too many double faults"
7: (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"
v : put or pin the blame on [syn:
blame] [ant:
absolve]