- fault
- noun1 responsibility for sth wrongADJECTIVE▪ stupid▪
It's his own stupid fault his car was stolen—he should have kept it locked.
▪ entire▪It was my entire fault. I ruined everything.
FAULT + VERB▪ lie with sb▪The fault lay not with her but with her manager.
PREPOSITION▪ at fault▪The party at fault in a court case usually pays the other party's legal costs.
▪ through sb's fault▪Many of the soldiers died through his fault.
▪ without fault▪Having made an error of judgement she was not without fault in the matter.
PHRASES▪ be all sb's fault, be entirely sb's fault▪It's all your own fault, you know.
▪ be largely sb's fault, be partly sb's fault▪ fault on sb's part (law)▪the absence of fault on the part of the prosecution
▪ through no fault of your own▪people who, through no fault of their own, have lost their homes
2 weakness in sb's characterADJECTIVE▪ big, great▪Her great fault was that she thought too much of herself.
▪My biggest fault was my laziness.
▪ moral▪ personalVERB + FAULT▪ have▪We all have our faults.
▪ be blind to, overlook▪He is blind to his son's faults.
▪She was prepared to overlook his faults.
▪ point out▪No one had ever pointed out my faults to my face before.
▪ accept, acknowledge, admit, admit to, realize, see▪At least he admits to his faults.
▪I have to accept and realize my faults.
PREPOSITION▪ fault in▪Incorrectness in speech was considered a great fault in a gentleman.
PHRASES▪ for all sb's faults▪For all her faults (= in spite of her faults) she was a great woman.
▪ to a fault▪He is generous to a fault (= perhaps too generous).
3 sth wrong or not perfect with sthADJECTIVE▪ major, minor▪ dangerous, serious▪ common▪a common fault with this type of machine
▪ glaring, obvious▪These are just a few of the glaring faults that ruined the movie for me.
▪ real▪The only real fault of the book is its looseness of structure.
▪ possible▪ design, electrical, mechanical, structural, technical (all esp. BrE)▪Of course, minor mechanical faults sometimes occur.
VERB + FAULT▪ have▪The engine has a serious fault.
▪ develop▪The car soon developed another fault.
▪ look for▪ detect, diagnose, discover, find, identify, locate▪They've found a major fault with the electrical system.
▪When she tested the recorder she could find no fault with it.
▪ find, pick (BrE)▪My mother did nothing but find fault with my manners.
▪He's deliberately picking fault with the meal to get a reduction on the bill.
▪ correct, fix, rectify (esp. BrE), repair▪We're trying to correct the faults in the program.
▪ report (esp. BrE)▪You should report any fault directly to the phone company.
FAULT + VERB▪ occur▪ lie in sth▪The fault lay in the structure of the economy.
PREPOSITION▪ fault in▪Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.
▪ fault with▪She was always finding fault with his manners.
PHRASES▪ for all its faults▪For all its faults (= in spite of the faults), we love this city.
4 in tennisADJECTIVE▪ double▪ footVERB + FAULT▪ serve▪Even tennis champions sometimes serve double faults.
5 geologyADJECTIVE▪ earthquake, geologicalFAULT + NOUN▪ line▪ scarp▪ system, zone
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
