Definition "fault" in Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus, spelling "fault"

fault (faults plural & 3rd person present) (faulting present participle) (faulted past tense & past participle )

1 n-sing If a bad or undesirable situation is your fault, you caused it or are responsible for it.
with poss
There was no escaping the fact: it was all his fault..., A few borrowers will find themselves in trouble with their repayments through no fault of their own.

2 n-count A fault is a mistake in what someone is doing or in what they have done.
usu with supp (=error, mistake)
It is a big fault to think that you can learn how to manage people in business school.

3 n-count A fault in someone or something is a weakness in them or something that is not perfect.
usu with supp, oft poss N (=failing, flaw)
His manners had always made her blind to his faults., ...a short delay due to a minor technical fault...

4  verb If you cannot fault someone, you cannot find any reason for criticizing them or the things that they are doing.
with brd-neg
You can't fault them for lack of invention...  V n for n/-ing
It is hard to fault the way he runs his own operation.  V n

5 n-count A fault is a large crack in the surface of the earth.
...the San Andreas Fault.

6 n-count A fault in tennis is a service that is wrong according to the rules.

7 If someone or something is at fault, they are to blame or are responsible for a particular situation that has gone wrong.
♦ at fault phrase v-link PHR
He could never accept that he had been at fault...

8 If you find fault with something or someone, you look for mistakes and complain about them.
♦ find fault phrase V inflects, usu PHR with n
I was disappointed whenever the cook found fault with my work.

9 If you say that someone has a particular good quality to a fault, you are emphasizing that they have more of this quality than is usual or necessary.
♦ to a fault phrase usu adj PHR (emphasis) Jefferson was generous to a fault..., Others will tell you that she is modest to a fault, funny, clever and warm.