fault
[ fawlt ]
/ fɔlt /
noun
verb (used without object)
to commit a fault; blunder; err.
Geology.
to undergo faulting.
verb (used with object)
Geology.
to cause a fault in.
to find fault with, blame, or censure.
Idioms for fault
Origin of fault
1250–1300; Middle English
faute < Anglo-French, Middle French < Vulgar Latin
*fallita, noun use of feminine of
*fallitus, for Latin
falsus, past participle of
fallere to be wrong
SYNONYMS FOR fault
1
blemish;
frailty,
shortcoming.
Fault,
failing,
foible,
weakness,
vice imply shortcomings or imperfections in a person.
Fault is the common word used to refer to any of the average shortcomings of a person; when it is used, condemnation is not necessarily implied:
Of his many faults the greatest is vanity.
Foible,
failing,
weakness all tend to excuse the person referred to. Of these
foible is the mildest, suggesting a weak point that is slight and often amusing, manifesting itself in eccentricity rather than in wrongdoing:
the foibles of artists.
Weakness suggests that the person in question is unable to control a particular impulse, and gives way to self-indulgence:
a weakness for pretty women.
Failing is closely akin to
fault, except that it is particularly applied to humanity at large, suggesting common, often venial, shortcomings:
Procrastination and making excuses are common failings.
Vice (which may also apply to a sin in itself, apart from a person:
the vice of gambling ) is the strongest term, and designates a habit that is truly detrimental or evil.
OTHER WORDS FROM fault
post·fault, nounWords nearby fault
British Dictionary definitions for to a fault
fault
/ (fɔːlt) /
noun
verb
Word Origin for fault
C13: from Old French
faute, from Vulgar Latin
fallita (unattested), ultimately from Latin
fallere to fail
Scientific definitions for to a fault
fault
[ fôlt ]
A fracture in a rock formation along which there has been movement of the blocks of rock on either side of the plane of fracture. Faults are caused by plate-tectonic forces. See more at normal fault reverse fault strike-slip fault thrust fault transform fault. See Note at earthquake.
A Closer Look
Bedrock, the solid rock just below the soil, is often cracked along surfaces known as planes. Cracks can extend up to hundreds of kilometers in length. When tensional and compressional stresses cause rocks separated by a crack to move past each other, the crack is known as a fault. Faults can be horizontal, vertical, or oblique. The movement can occur in the sudden jerks known as earthquakes. Normal faults, or tensional faults, occur when the rocks above the fault plane move down relative to the rocks below it, pulling the rocks apart. Where there is compression and folding, such as in mountainous regions, the rocks above the plane move upward relative to the rocks below the plane; these are called reverse faults. Strike-slip faults occur when shearing stress causes rocks on either side of the crack to slide parallel to the fault plane between them. Transform faults are strike-slip faults in which the crack is part of a boundary between two tectonic plates. A well-known example is the San Andreas Fault in California. Geologists use sightings of displaced outcroppings to infer the presence of faults, and they study faults to learn the history of the forces that have acted on rocks.
Cultural definitions for to a fault
fault
In geology, a place where sections of the crust of the Earth move relative to each other. (See earthquake and San Andreas fault.)
notes for fault
Faults tend to occur near the edges of
tectonic plates.
Idioms and Phrases with to a fault (1 of 2)
to a fault
Excessively, extremely, as in He was generous to a fault. This phrase, always qualifying an adjective, has been so used since the mid-1700s. Indeed, Oliver Goldsmith had this precise usage in The Life of Richard Nash (1762).
Idioms and Phrases with to a fault (2 of 2)
fault
see at fault; find fault; to a fault.