fault
n
1 an imperfection; failing or defect; flaw
4 responsibility for a mistake or misdeed; culpability
5 (Electronics) a defect in a circuit, component, or line, such as a short circuit
6 (Geology) a fracture in the earth's crust resulting in the relative displacement and loss of continuity of the rocks on either side of it
7 (Tennis, squash, etc.) an invalid serve, such as one that lands outside a prescribed area
8 (in showjumping) a penalty mark given for failing to clear or refusing a fence, exceeding a time limit, etc.
9 (Hunting) an instance of the hounds losing the scent
10 deficiency; lack; want
a guilty of error; culpable
c (of hounds) having temporarily lost the scent
12 ♦
find fault (with) to seek out minor imperfections or errors (in); carp (at)
13 ♦
to a fault excessively
vb
14 (Geology) to undergo or cause to undergo a fault
15 tr to find a fault in, criticize, or blame
16 intr to commit a fault (C13: from Old French faute, from Vulgar Latin fallita (unattested), ultimately from Latin fallere to fail)
compound fault
n (Geology) a series of closely spaced faults
dip fault
n (Geology) a fault that runs perpendicular to the strike of the affected rocks (i.e. parallel to the plane of the angle of dip of the rocks)
dip-slip fault
n (Geology) a fault on which the movement is along the dip of the fault
double fault (Tennis)
n
1 the serving of two faults in succession, thereby losing a point
vb
♦
double-fault
2 intr to serve a double fault
fault-finding
n
1 continual and usually trivial criticism
2 the systematic investigation of malfunctions in electronic apparatus
adj
3 given to finding fault
♦
fault-finder n
fault line
n
1 (Also called)
fault plane (Geology) the surface of a fault fracture along which the rocks have been displaced
2 a potentially disruptive division or area of contention
Europe remains the main fault line in the Tory Party
fault tree
n a diagram providing a model of the interactions between the components of a system when a failure occurs
foot fault
n (Tennis) a fault that occurs when the server fails to keep both feet behind the baseline until he has served
gravity fault
n a fault in which the rocks on the upper side of an inclined fault plane have been displaced downwards; normal fault
oblique fault
n a fault that runs obliquely to, rather than parallel to or perpendicular to, the strike of the affected rocks
oblique-slip fault
n a fault on which the movement is along both the strike and the dip of the fault
strike fault
n a fault that runs parallel to the strike of the affected rocks
strike-slip fault
n a geological fault on which the movement is along the strike of the fault
thrust fault
n a fault in which the rocks on the lower side of an inclined fault plane have been displaced downwards, usually by compression; a reverse fault