Library / English Dictionary

FAILING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Failure to reach a minimum required performance

Example:

he got two flunks on his report

Synonyms:

failing; flunk

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("failing" is a kind of...):

failure (an act that fails)

Antonym:

passing (success in satisfying a test or requirement)

Derivation:

fail (fail to get a passing grade)

fail (judge unacceptable)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A flaw or weak point

Example:

he was quick to point out his wife's failings

Synonyms:

failing; weakness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("failing" is a kind of...):

imperfection; imperfectness (the state or an instance of being imperfect)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "failing"):

inadequacy; insufficiency (a lack of competence)

fatigue (used of materials (especially metals) in a weakened state caused by long stress)

flaw (defect or weakness in a person's character)

Derivation:

fail (fall short in what is expected)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Below acceptable in performance

Example:

received failing grades

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

unsatisfactory (not giving satisfaction)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

-ing form of the verb fail

Credits

 Context examples: 

Issue associated with the device failing to complete a series of processes or events.

(Failure to Cycle Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

Issue associated with the device or one of its components failing to expand.

(Failure to Expand Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

The transfer of an organ (or part of one) from one body to another, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or failing organ with a working one from the donor.

(Organ Transplantation, NCI Thesaurus)

Issue arising from the device failing to deliver the specified liquid or gas.

(No Flow Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

How I have lived I hardly know; many times have I stretched my failing limbs upon the sandy plain and prayed for death.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

He paused after each sentence to collect his failing strength.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Issue associated with the device failing to perform an internal self-diagnostic process to ensure normal operation during or prior to use.

(Medical Device Failure to Self-Test, Food and Drug Administration)

The transfer of a healthy kidney from a donor to a patient for the purpose of replacing one of the failing kidneys of the patient.

(Kidney Transplantation, NCI Thesaurus)

Issue associated with the device or one of its components failing to detach or separate as intended.

(Failure to Separate Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

A feeling of shame and sorrow based on the belief of having done something wrong or failing an obligation.

(Guilt, NCI Thesaurus)