fault--prophetes.ai

▪ I. fault, n.
    (fɔːlt, fɒlt)
    Forms: 3–7 (8, 9 dial.) faut(e, (5 fauute, fauȝt), 4–6 fawt(e, 5–7 falt, faulte, 5– fault.
    [ME. faut(e, a. OF. faute fem. (also faut masc.) = Pr., Sp., Pg., It. falta:—popular Lat. *fallita, a failing, coming short, f. *fallitus, popular Lat. pa. pple. of fallĕre: see fail v.
    The earliest recorded spelling in Fr. is faute; the etymological l was inserted by some writers in 15–17th c., and this example was followed in Eng. (our first certain instance being in the MSS. of Barbour written in 1487–9); from 17th c. the standard spelling has been fault, but in Pope and Swift it rimes with thought, wrought, and Johnson 1755 says that in conversation the l is generally suppressed. In many dialects the pronunciation is still (fɔːt).]
    † 1. a. Deficiency, lack, scarcity, want of (something specified). rare in pl. Also used absol. (like want) = want of food or necessaries. Obs.

a 1300 Cursor M. 4504 (Cott.) Man þat..thoru his welth, na fautes felis. Ibid. 5385 (Cott.) Faut o bred was in þat tide. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 303, & whan we faren to fed we finde no faute. 1375 Barbour Bruce ix. 318 [He] has the castell tan, Throu falt of vach. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 60 The Fowles faire for falt they fell off feete. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7628 He fande faute of honeste. 14.. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 95 The pore, for faute late þem not spylle! 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clix. 193 They had gret faut in their hoost of vitayle. 1591 Coningsby Siege of Rouen in Camden Misc. (1847) I. 30 You would have thoughte there had bene noe faulte of men.

† b. The amount deficient (in an account). Obs.

1665 Pepys Diary 20 Mar., He..is ready to lay down in ready money the fault of his account.

c. for (the) fault of: in default of; in the absence of; through deficiency or want of. Also without for (after F. faute de). Now arch.

c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 397/154 His fon haueþ moch of his lond for þe faute of þe y-nome. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 7834 Ded me weren leuer by Ihesus Than he starf for faut of ous. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 435 She swouned..for faute of blood. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 699 For faute of that gete other thinges goode. 1480 Bury Wills (1850) 56 For the favte of sweche issue the remandyre therof to the next heyre. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) N iij, Rome is fallen..not for faute of money and armes. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. ii. 45 One it pleases me, for fault of a better, to call my friend. 1620 Frier Rush 30 His Masters shoone..for faut of greasing..were very hard. 1685 Gracian's Courtiers Orac. 221 Seriousness is wanting, for fault of which great qualities have no lustre in them. 1794 Burns Gane is the day, We'll ne'er stray for faute o' light. 1867 Emerson Poems (1914) 252 And, fault of novel germs, Mature the unfallen fruit. 1874 Swinburne Bothwell (1882) ii. xiv. 195 Though it be evil made for fault of time.

† 2. Default, failing, neglect. without (any) fault (= Fr. sans faute): without fail; hence, for a certainty. Cf. fail n. 1. Obs.

c 1325 Coer de L. 1214 Thou schalt..have..folk inowe with thee; In us schall no fawte bee. 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 34 Who-so..be nouthe þere..he schal paie a pound of wax for is faute. c 1477 Caxton Jason 45 b, If ye wole telle me your name with out any faute, I shal telle yow myn also. c 1489 ― Sonnes of Aymon ix. 215 Now shall they be honged to morowe wythoute fawte. c 1500 Melusine 318 My swete loue..there shal be no fawte of it. 1502 Bury Wills (Camden) 92 For fawte of thithing and offryng nectly⁓gently forgotyn iij s. iiij d. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xviii. 22 Your ennemies.. be within iii. myle of you..ther shall ye fynde them without faulte. 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle (1627) 182 They are bred by euill meate, and fault of drinking good water.

3. A defect, imperfection, blameable quality or feature. a. in moral character. (Expressing a milder censure than vice.)

1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 209 Ne vnder-nym nouȝte foule for is none with-oute faute. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 100 We are not so sikir þat we be wiþ out faut, error, and vnkunning. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 1226 In me fforsothe no fauȝt þer nys. 1587 Mirr. Mag., Porrex vii, Can I excuse my selfe deuoide of faut. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xiv. 308 That godly King..had some defects, but few faults. 1784 Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 113 A benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself. 1785 Burns Epist. to J. Lapraik xvii, There's ae wee faut they whiles lay to me, I like the lasses. a 1846 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 I. 464 Great men too often have greater faults than little men can find room for. 1857 Livingstone Trav. ii. 44 His independence and love of the English were his only faults.

b. in physical or intellectual constitution, appearance, structure, workmanship, etc.

c 1320 Seuyn Sag. (W.) 120 The fairest man..Withouten faute fra heid to fote. 1538 Starkey England ii. i. 26 The commyn fautys and mysordurys of the same. 1599 Minsheu Dial. Sp. & Eng. (1623) 57 The women generally..have three faults..litle eies, great mouthes, and not very smooth skin. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xvii. 86 Do not see..any fault, in the administration of their common businesse. 1675 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Ess. Poetry 74 Where can one [song] be seen without a fault? 1713 Swift Cadenus & Vanessa 603 She own'd the wandering of her thoughts, But he must answer for her faults. 1884 tr. Lotze's Logic 197 An essential fault of the Pythagorean theory.

c. In phrase to a fault (qualifying an adj.): to such an extent that it becomes a fault; excessively, extremely.

1752 Scots Mag. xv. 41/1 This was good-natur'd to a fault. 1762 Goldsm. Nash Wks. 1881 IV. 89 She was..generous to a fault. 1849 D. G. Mitchell Battle Summer (1852) 140 His dress is plain to a fault.

d. Comm. with all faults (now sometimes abbreviated ‘A.F.’ or ‘Job A.F.’): with all defects, i.e. the seller will not be answerable for them.

1716 Lond. Gaz. No. 5400/4 To be taken away with all Faults. 1894 Times (Weekly ed.) 22 June p. iii/4 A first folio Shakespeare, imperfect, and sold with all faults, realized {pstlg}255.

† 4. An unsound or damaged place; a flaw, crack; Mil. a gap in the ranks. Obs.

1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 9 Stoppe all the holes where thou can fautes se. 1595 Shakes. John iv. ii. 33 Patches set vpon a little breach Discredite more in hiding of the fault. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. iii. (1623) G iij, First, lift vp the stalls..then setting them downe againe..mend all brackes and faults about them. 1698 Sir T. Morgan Progr. in France in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793) 388 Major Morgan, observing the enemy mending faults, and opening the intervals of the foot, to bring horse in.

5. Something wrongly done. Phrase, to commit (rarely do, make) a fault. a. In moral sense: A dereliction of duty; a misdeed, transgression, offence. Also occas. Delinquency in general, ‘something wrong’.

13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 177 For fele fautez may a freke forfete his blysse. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 66 Forto clense her of sertaine fauutes that she had done. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 3 Faustus..To them imputynge grete fautes. 1550 Crowley Last Trump 753 Winke not at faltes. 1611 Bible Gen. xli. 9, I doe remember my faults this day. 1748 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 310 Distresses..brought upon persons by their own faults. a 1853 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xvii. 219 A restless, undefinable sense of fault. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 250 A fault which is most serious, I said; the fault of telling a lie.

b. A failure in what is attempted; a slip, error, mistake. Now somewhat rare; ‘lady teachers often use it in marking school exercises (after F. faute)’ (N.E.D.). In early use esp. † a clerical error or misprint.

1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. Author's Pref., If any faute be in this my rude translacyon. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse A iij b, If faultes escape..with penne spedely amende it. 1583 Holiband Campo di Fior 359 Leave more space betwene both lines. That there maye be place to mende your faultes. 1633 E. Campion's Hist. Irel. (at end), Faults escaped. 1701 De Foe True-born Eng. Pref., The Book is Printed; and tho I see some Faults, 'tis too late to mend them. 1725 Watts Logic iii. iii, There must be some fault in the deduction. 1774 Goldsm. Grecian Hist. II. 35 The other army..had made another fault, not less considerable. 1845 Graves Rom. Law in Encycl. Metrop. 775/1 The..faults of the Florentine MS. are corrected.

c. spec. in Rackets and Tennis. A faulty stroke; a stroke in which the server fails to make the ball fall within the prescribed limits.

1599 Chapman Humorous Day's Mirth E ij, I gaue him fifteene and all his faults. 1611 Cotgr., Bisque, a fault at Tennis. 1679 Shadwell True Widow i, We'll play with you at a bisk, and a fault, for twenty pound. 1886 H. F. Wilkinson Encycl. Brit. XX. 210/2 (Rackets), Two consecutive faults put a hand out. 1888 J. Marshall ibid. XXIII. 182/2 (Tennis), It is a fault if the service be delivered from the wrong court.

6. a. to find (a) fault: to discover or perceive a fault (senses 3–5) in a person or thing. b. Hence, idiomatically, to find fault (with, † at): to express dissatisfaction (with), criticize unfavourably, censure.

a. a 1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. App. iv. 479 Faute þer⁓Inne ȝif þat he fynde Mak no scornynge me be-hynde. c 1400 Rom. Rose 3837 Grete faute in thee now have I founde. c 1440 York Myst. xx. 183 Fautez nowe are founden fele. 1563–7 Buchanan Reform. St. Andros Wks. (1892) 9 Geif the regent find falt quhairof the nomenclator has nocht advertysit hym. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 29 ¶3 The only Fault I find in our present Practice. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 63 If he find any fault in her within three days.

b. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4850 Rule vs by rightwisnes..þat no fawte with vs founden be. 1588 J. Udall Diotrephes (Arb.) 6 Finding faut with him for one thing or another. 1593 Tell-Troths N.Y. Gift 9 A man will finde fault without cause. 1611 Bible Mark vii. 2 When they saw some of his disciples eate bread with defiled..hands, they found fault. 1656 Artif. Handsom. (1662) 4 Eyes..over-curious to find fault at Art. 1741 Middleton Cicero (ed. 3) III. xi. 257 You find fault with me. 1776 Bentham Fragm. Govt. Wks. 1843 I. 230 If nothing is ever to be found fault with, nothing will ever be mended. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 161, I am not given to finding fault. 1892 T. W. Erle in Law Times XCIII. 417/2 No fault was found with my suggestions.

7. a. With reference to persons: Culpability; the blame or responsibility of causing or permitting some untoward occurrence; the wrong-doing or negligence to which a specified evil is attributable. to be in († one's, † the) fault: to be to blame. † to lay, put (a) fault † in, upon: to impute blame to. † to bear the fault: to bear the blame. it is my (his, etc.) fault: I am (he is, etc.) the person to blame for what has happened.

1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 103 And leyden fautes vpon þe fader þat fourmed vs alle. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 290 He will be found in his fault. that wantis. 1530 Crome in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. x. 20, I doo nott putt fawte in no man. 1530 Palsgr. 429/2, I am..in the faute that a thyng is a mysse, jay tort. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Northumbld. xix, This was my hap, my fortune, or my fawte. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 206 To lay the faulte upon Anthony. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xi. (1845) 235 Their Superiours are in the fault. 1700 S. L. tr. C. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 349 The Master was in all the fault. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. v. (1841) I. 96 Lay the fault on me. 1726–31 Tindal Rapin's Hist. Eng. (1743) II. xvii. 675 Who are in the greatest faults. 1735 Pope Ep. Lady 73 Let Blood and Body bear the fault. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 319 All is lost, but not through any fault of mine. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) II. 22 When weak poets go astray, ‘The stars are more in fault than they’. 1848 Dickens Dombey ii, It will be our own faults if we lose sight of this one. 1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 1 It was not any fault of mine.

¶ Incorrectly in plural, by the attraction of poss. adj. referring to two or more persons.

1738 Common Sense (1739) II. 242 Where this happens, it is their own Faults. 1774 Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 228 It is our own faults if we err greatly.

b. The defect, the ‘something wrong’ (in things, conditions, etc.) to which a specified evil is attributable. (Phrases as in a.)

1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 298 Giff..he thar-off failȝe, The fawt may be in his trawailȝe. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 21 By the negligence of the Harquebuziers..or by the fault of the touch-boxes. 1656 H. Phillips Purch. Patt. (1676) 15 The fault lies in those false rules and customs. 1803 T. Beddoes Hygeia xi. 15 Rich sauces eaten in profusion..are very frequently in fault. 1807 Med. Jrnl. XVII. 244 The fault..is not in the practitioner but in the patient. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 1115 Creatures voiceless thro' the fault of birth.

8. a. Hunting. A break in the line of scent; loss of scent; a check caused by failure of scent. † cold fault: cold or lost scent. to be, † fall at (a) fault: to overrun the line of scent owing to its irregularity or failure; to lose or be off the scent or track. to hit off a fault: to recover a lost scent.

1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 694 The hot scent-snuffing hounds..have singled..the cold fault cleanly out. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 107 Suddenly the hounds fell at a fault. 1637 Shirley Lady of Pleasure ii. ii, Give him leave To follow his own nose..while he hunts In view,—he'll soon be at a fault. 1687 Congreve Old Bach. v. i, Your blood-hound has made out the fault. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones x. vi, Bad hounds..never hit off a fault them⁓selves. 1781 Beckford Hunting (1802) 163 If a long fault make his [the huntsman's] assistance necessary. 1888 Times 10 Oct. 5/5 They [bloodhounds] are at fault..by overrunning the line. 1888 P. Lindley ibid. 16 Oct. 10/5 The hound..took up the stale trail..without a fault.

b. fig. at fault: puzzled, at a loss.

[1626 Wotton in Reliq. Wotton. (ed. 3) 550 We are..at a fault, in the Hunter's term.] 1833 H. Martineau Loom & Lugger i. v. 87 One's conscience being at fault, an appeal to the law must settle the matter. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast i. 1 My little knowledge of a vessel was all at fault. 1861 T. L. Peacock Gryll Grange ii, There was sufficient diversity in the characters of the rejected to place conjecture at fault. 1886 Shorthouse Sir Percival iv. 121 The walls and courts..were so full of..relics of the past that the wisest antiquarians were at fault.

c. at fault, not equal to the occasion, in the position of having failed.
Formerly considered an incorrect use. ‘With still greater impropriety, it is (according to Mr. Fitzedward Hall) frequently employed by American and occasionally by Eng. writers in the sense of {oqq}in fault{cqq}’ (N.E.D.).

1876 L. Stephen Eng. Thought I. vi. 324 The many difficulties in nature..when made the groundwork of an argument..imply that the creator has been at fault. 1935 Discovery July 206/1 Sometimes it was the glaze..which was at fault. 1947 Mulgan & Davin Introd. Eng. Lit. xiii. 167 The natural presumption is that it is not his already proved skill that is at fault but rather the nature of the theories.

9. Geol. and Mining. a. A dislocation or break in continuity of the strata or vein. Also, a flaw or dislocation in ice. Cf. F. faille.

1796 Phil. Trans. 351 They discovered..a fault..in the strata. 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 263 Faults generally decline a little from a vertical position. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 43 The faults and dislocations of the strata. 1847 Ansted Anc. World vi. 108 Every coal-field is..split asunder and broken into small fragments by..‘faults’. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xxvii. 392 The [ice] beds were bent, and their continuity often broken by faults. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man (ed. 3) 199 A valley..follows a line of fault in the chalk. 1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining 103 There are several kinds of faults, e.g. Faults of Dislocation; of Denudation; Upheaval; Trough Fault; Reverse or Overlap Fault; Step Fault. 1925 N. E. Odell in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 314 That the ice above the Trough was undergoing severe stress was apparent not only from its foliation, but also from the faults—‘flaws’ or ‘tear-faults’—that had been extensively developed in this area.

b. (See quot.)

1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., In coal-seams, sometimes applied to the coal rendered worthless by its condition in the seam (slate-fault, dirt-fault, etc.).

10. Telegr. An imperfect insulation; the condition of being in contact with anything which impairs or weakens the current; a leakage.

1863 Culley Handbk. Pract. Telegr. iv. 64 These faults are called ‘earth’ and ‘contact’. Ibid. iv. 65 Suppose..a fault to occur connecting the wire to the earth.. This leak will lessen the total resistance.

11. Comb. Chiefly objective, as fault-finder n.; fault-finding n. and adj.; fault-hunting adj.; attrib. (sense 9) fault-fissure, fault-line, fault-plane, fault zone. Also fault-block, a mass of displaced rock (sometimes of extensive area) bounded by or between two faults; fault breccia, breccia resulting from movement along a fault, a crush-breccia or fault-rock; fault-line scarp, a scarp produced secondarily along a fault-line by erosion, etc.; fault-line valley, a valley along a fault-line; fault-reader, one who can trace the correspondence of strata interrupted by a fault; fault-rock (see quots.); fault-scarp, a scarp directly produced by throw at a fault; fault-slip , the smooth surface of the fractured rocks in some types of faults; fault-stuff (see quot.); fault-vein, a mineral vein filling a fault; fault-vent, a volcanic vent occurring at a fault.

1897 W. B. Scott Introd. Geol. xiii. 248 If two parallel dislocations hade toward each other, they form a trough fault and include a wedge-shaped *fault block. 1925 N. E. Odell in E. F. Norton Fight for Everest, 1924 292 At one point in the gorge a fault block had been turned through 90°. 1968 W. A. Price in R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 794 Fault-block origin for the Old Crow lakes is supported by the large square drainage patterns with which the lakes are associated.

1891 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. Lond. XLVII. 322 An interesting feature in the Packhouse Hill section is a metamorphosed *fault-breccia, which intervenes between the Lower and Middle Coldwell beds. 1969 C. R. Longwell et al. Physical Geol. xvii. 413 Rocks adjacent to a fault can be crushed into irregular pieces, forming fault breccia.

1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer Epist. C ij b, I confesse to my *faultfinders. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 49 Fault-finders..wil correct the Verbe, before they vnderstande the Noune. 1852 Robertson Serm. Ser. iv. xxxv. (1863) 273 Social faultfinders, who are ever on the watch for error.

1622 Davies Orchestra lxv, Correspondence..That no *fault-finding eye did ever blame. 1626 Bernard Isle of Man 20 He..liveth upon fault-finding. 1630 M. Godwyn tr. Bp. Godwyn's Ann. Eng. 43 The most fault-finding could not complaine of any want in that kinde. 1865 Miss Mulock Chr. Mistake 90 Small backbitings and fault-findings.

1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall Mines 87 In some instances..the *fault-fissures are open. 1903 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 4) 372 Another remarkable instance of the..fault-fissure type was furnished by the great Japanese earth⁓quake of 28th October 1891.

1612 Chapman Widowes T. in Dodsley O. Pl. (1720) VI. 210, I must..be sure to give no hold to these *fault-hunting enemies.

1869 Phillips Vesuv. vii. 197 On such a *fault-line atmospheric vicissitude has been effective.

1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 622/1 The removal of the weak strata along one side of the fault line, leaving the harder strata on the other side in relief; such scarps are known as ‘*fault-line scarps’. 1935 Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXVI. 362 They may mistake fault-line scarps for fault scarps. 1968 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 349/2 A fault-line scarp..is a cliff that is subparallel to the fault trace, but is so modified by erosion that it does not reflect the fault plane in any way.

1913 W. M. Davis in Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XXIV. 207 They should be called by some special name, such as *fault-line valleys, as here suggested. 1963 A. N. Strahler Earth Sciences xxxiv. 598 Streams occupying fault lines are classed as subsequent streams... Their valleys may be termed subsequent valleys, or, more specifically, fault-line valleys.

1889 O. Fisher Physics of Earth's Crust (ed. 2) xx. 263 A ‘*fault-plane’ or ‘thrust-plane’. 1900 Geogr. Jrnl. XVI. 466 Inclined fault-planes with down⁓throw towards one trough. 1913 Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. XXIV. 166 A fault surface is the surface of fracture; it is rarely plane, but where it is without notable curvature over any area it may be called a fault plane for that area. 1939 Proc. Prehist. Soc. V. 107 A spring issuing from the Chalk at the fault-plane.

1891 R. Kipling City Dreadf. Nt. 85 A good ‘*fault-reader’..must more than know geology.

1877 A. H. Green Phys. Geol. ix. §4. 365 Fragments of the adjoining rocks mashed and jumbled together, in some cases bound into a solid mass called fault-stuff or *fault-rock. 1882 Geikie Text Bk. Geol. iv. vi. 524 The line of fracture is marked by a belt or wall-like mass of fragmentary rock, known as ‘fault rock’.

1897 W. B. Scott Introd. Geol. xiii. 248 It is comparatively seldom that the upthrow side of a fault is left standing as a line of cliffs; when such is the case, the cliffs form a *fault scarp. 1960 L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. (ed. 5) xxiii. 229 One of the finest examples of a fault-scarp to be found anywhere—the great wall of the Highlands overlooking a valley excavated in Old Red Sandstone rocks.

1883 Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining, *Fault-slip.

1811 J. Farey Agric. Derbysh. I. i. §3. 120 Extraneous matters filling the Fault..I shall call them *Fault-stuff. 1877 [see fault-rock above].

1886 J. Prestwich Geol. I. xviii. 309 Mineral veins may be divided into fissure-veins, *fault-veins, and..quartz-veins. 1903 Nature 3 Sept. 413/2 During the geological periods when the fault-vent continued intermittently active.

1931 C. M. Nevin Princ. Struct. Geol. iv. 78 Frequently, the displacement caused by faulting may be spread over a number of closely spaced adjacent fractures, instead of being confined to one surface, in which case a *fault zone is formed. 1944 A. Holmes Princ. Physical Geol. vi. 79 Sometimes, instead of a single fracture, there are two or more, forming a strip consisting of a sheet of crushed rock of variable thickness. This is distinguished as a fault zone, and the shattered material within is called a fault breccia. 1970 Encycl. Brit. VII. 861/1 The bottom of the well was located in a fault zone.

Add: [5.] d. Show-jumping, etc. A penalty point incurred for an error in performance.

1912 Horse & Hound 29 June 409/2 For Russia Captain d'Exe on Epire had half a fault scored against him. 1926 Ibid. 26 June 465/2 Captain Dunn was unfortunate in registering four faults at the wattle gate. 1946 M. C. Self Horseman's Encycl. 251 In tandem formations.., where correct distance is not kept, a fault of ½ point will be scored for each one half horse's length. 1964 J. Berrisford Show Jumper in Family xvi. 118 Penny was surprised to hear a sharp gasp from the crowd as three ‘bricks’ fell. Four faults. 1984 Smith & Green Harvey Smith on Show-Jumping ii. 53 (caption) Sanyo Technology..had just one fence down in each of the two rounds of the Nations Cup in Paris, 1983, helping the British team to beat the French by one quarter of a fault.

▪ II. fault, v.
    (fɔːlt, fɒlt)
    Forms: 4–6 faut(e(n, fawt(e, 6 faulte, 6–7 falt, 9 Sc. faut, 6– fault.
    [f. prec. n.; cf. OF. fauter, which may be the source in the older senses.]
    † 1. intr. To be wanting or absent. Const. dat.

c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Laurentius 778 Þat was to þat ilke end: Gyf ocht fawtyt, It til amend. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. ix. 66, I fynde þat holicherche Shulde fynden hem þat hem fauteth. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De. P.R. xix. i. (1495) 860 Yf lyghte lackyth and fawtyth: the qualyte of colour is not seen. c 1460 Launfal 200 Today to cherche y wolde have gon, But me fawtede hosyn and schon. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. xxx. 87 Here fauteth company.

† 2. To be deficient in, to be lacking in. Obs.

1504 Atkinson tr. De Imitatione iii. xxxix, Worldlye wyse men fawteth in thy wysdome, good lorde. 1579 E. K. in Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Epist., Minding to furnish our tongue in this kind, wherein it faulteth. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) A iij, I will blush for mine errors, where I fault in ability I will shew you my will. 1606 Holland Sueton. Annot. 11 Hee faulted in common civilitie.

† 3. a. trans. To stand in need of, lack, want, be deficient in. Obs.

1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. ix. 66 Foles þat fauten Inwitte. a 1400–50 Alexander 2710 A thing..þarnes þe wyngis, And fautis þe fethirhames. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iii. i, I fawte l [knyghtes], for so many haue ben slayne. c 1475 Partenay 6379 She noght fauteth þat haue shold A lady.

absol. 1475 Bk. Noblesse 31 Be this way the ost may never faut.

† b. impers. = Fr. il faut. To be needful. Obs.

1502 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W.) v. iii. 377 It fauteth not for to ymagen that they ben lesse ferefull in hell.

† 4. a. intr. To come short of a standard; to make default, fail. Obs.

14.. tr. Leges Quatuor Burgorum c. 19 in Sc. Stat. (1844) I. 336 Gif he faltis twyis he sall be chastyte twyis for his forfaute. Gif he faltis thryse [etc.]. 1486 Stanley's Ord. Lichfield Gild 12 If the seid..persons wyl absent them-self..[they] shal pay ij pownd of wax; and as ofte as ony of them so fawteth after iij times monysshed, to be discharged. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 36 If shotinge faulte at any tyme, it hydes it not..but openly accuseth and bewrayeth it selfe. c 1611 Sylvester Du Bartas (1621) ii. iv. iv. Decay 512 Let not our Fervour fault, Through length of Siege. a 1677 Manton Serm. Wks. (1871) II. 187 He hath exceedingly failed and faulted in his duty.

† b. quasi-trans. To fail or omit to (do something); to miss (one's aim). Obs.

1522 St. Papers Hen. VIII, VI. 103 Wherin His Grace shall not faulte to indevour Hymself after his best power. 1527 Knight in J. S. Brewer Henry VIII, xxviii. (1884) II. 224 The contents whereof I shall not fault to follow according unto your Grace's pleasure. 1591 Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 53 Ile mend the fault, or fault my aime.

5. a. intr. To commit a fault, to do or go wrong, hence sometimes, to sin. Obs. exc. arch. rarely quasi-trans. with neut. pron. as obj. Const. against, to, toward. Also rarely, to fault it.

c 1400 Apol. Loll. 66 He fautid be error & be vnkunning. a 1400–50 Alexander 2659 ‘Quat has he fauted?’ quod þe frek. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 74, I faulted neuer to you truelie. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour cxxx. 182 Men shalle saye that she fawted in dede. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke xv. 132 Whatsoeuer I haue faulted, I haue faulted against him alone. 1549 Compl. Scot. xiv. 122 I exort ȝou..that gyf ony of ȝou hes faltit contrar ȝour comont veil..that ȝe correct ȝour selfis. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. ix. xliv. (1612) 211 They..die in lingring Torments, who Fault to their Inquisition. a 1603 T. Cartwright Confut. Rhem. N.T. (1618) 27 He that marrieth another, faulteth against the former wife. 1625 B. Jonson Staple of News ii. i, And where my dogs have faulted, Remove it with a broom. a 1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. xxii. (1642) 86 The people of Cæsarea faulted greatly when..they called King Herod a god. 1647 Ward Simp. Cobler 88 Poore Coblers well may fault it now and then, They'r ever mending faults for other men. 1825 Scott Talism. xx, He hath foully faulted towards me, in failing to send the auxiliary aid he promised. 1871 Browning Balaust. 96 Had I died for thee I had faulted more.

† b. of things. Obs.

1602 Warner Alb. Eng. x. lx. (1612) 265 Somewhat some⁓where faulteth. 1608 Bp. Hall Char. Virtues & V. ii. 101 Everie thing faulteth either in too much or too little.

† 6. To make a mistake, be in error, blunder.

1530 Palsgr. 546/2 It is no marvayle thoughe I faulte yet, I am but a begynner. c 1550 Cheke Matt. xviii, Y⊇ greak fauteth heer in y⊇ nomber. 1624 Bedell Lett. vi. 95 Hee faults himselfe in the same kinde, that hee imputes to another. 1692 Covt. Grace Conditional 47 If they faulted in any thing about the Matter in controversie, it was in giving too much to Faith. 1765 Chesterfield Lett. (1890) 178 His tongue stammering and faulting.

7. a. trans. To find fault with, to blame or censure. Also † to fault (a person) with or that: to charge with, find fault with because.

1559 Baldwin Mirr. Magistr. (1563) vi. b, Or shal I fault the fates that so ordayne? 1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 53 If it fall upon his head, let him fault himself. 1590 T. Watson Eglogue death Sir F. Walsingham 276 (Arb.) 169 My mind..gins fault hir giuing place to sorrows sourse. 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 4 The lion was faulted by the lioness, that his breath stank. 1677 Cary Chronol. ii. ii. i. iii. 193 Josephus is to be faulted, for saying that it was in the 25th year. 1791 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Rights of Kings Wks. 1812 II. 415 Fault the poor Flesh and quarrel with the Fish. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xxi, What's that you're faulting now? is it my deal seats without cushions? 1850 F. Trollope Petticoat Govt. 161 Her manner..could not, to use an American phrase, be ‘faulted’. 1866 Lowell Biglow P. Introd., The Americanisms with which we are faulted. 1957 Listener 9 May 736/1 One can fault the English for their indifference over long periods to Scottish susceptibilities. 1965 New Statesman 30 Apr. 670/2 The Hall Green Conservatives can be faulted for selecting him. 1971 Wall Street Jrnl. (Eastern ed.) 19 July 1/3 The..report{ddd}faults Agriculture Secretary Clifford Hardin for failing to take over state meat-inspection services that have failed to satisfy federal requirements.

b. To impugn or mark as faulty.

1585 Abp. Sandys Serm. (1841) 233 Any deformity..in the body of a naked man..is soon espied and faulted. 1635 Shelford Learned Disc. 54 God's house is abused by them which bring hither hawks and dogs, which is faulted in our Church-homilie. 1665 J. Sergeant Sure Footing 58 If Protestants faulted not the Rule. 1882–3 J. J. Mombert in Schaff Encycl. Relig. Knowl. I. 736 Twenty-nine passages..faulted by Lawrence as incorrect. 1958 Spectator 6 June 740/3 His final conclusion at least cannot be faulted. 1961 Times 11 May 17/2 Perhaps some scholar will fault a detail.

8. Hunting. To put (a hound) at fault; to throw off the scent. rare.

1873 W. S. Mayo Never again xii. 164 A way! By which we'll fault their staunchest hound.

9. Geol. and Mining. trans. Chiefly pass. To cause a fault (see fault n. 9) or break of continuity in; to dislocate; now also intr. to fault down or fault through: to depress (part of a stratum), to drive (part of it) through (another) with the result of causing a fault.

1849 Murchison Siluria vii. 139 It is faulted on the north-west against Old Red Sandstone. 1863 Dana Man. Geol. 111 If the stratum were inclined at 15° without faulting, it would stand as in fig. D. 1872 W. S. Symonds Rec. Rocks, Black slates at Llandeilo are faulted through the Caradoc beds. 1879 Rutley Stud. Rocks ii. 8 Portions of the already solidified crust were faulted down or depressed. 1883 Science I. 101 An undulation which has overturned the folds, and has faulted them in some places. 1927 Daily Express 5 July 11/4 A geological inexactitude which appears to have faulted or slipped from peaceful churchyard surroundings to a boisterous life in the ocean waves.

fig. 1837 Sir F. Palgrave Merch. & Friar ii. (1844) 39 Correct reasoning would suddenly be faulted, as it were, by a vein of wild credulity.