1
general::
noun responsibility for sth wrong ADJ. stupid It's his own stupid fault his car was stolen?he should have kept it locked. FAULT + VERB lie with sb The fault lay not with her but with her manager. PREP. at ~ The party at fault in a court case usually pays the other party's legal costs. | through sb's ~ Many of the soldiers died through his fault. | without ~ Having made an error of judgement she was not without fault in the matter. PHRASES be all/entirely your (own) fault It's all your own fault, you know. | be largely/partly your (own) fault, be hardly your (own) fault, fault on sb's part (law) the absence of fault on the part of the prosecution | through no fault of your own helping people who, through no fault of their own, have lost their homes weakness in sb's character ADJ. great Her great fault was that she thought too well of herself. | moral VERB + 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. PREP. ~ 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 (= very generous and perhaps too generous). sth wrong or not perfect with sth ADJ. bad, major, serious | basic There is a basic fault in the design of the engine. It cannot be fixed. | dangerous | minor | common a common fault with this type of machine | real The only real fault of the book is its looseness of structure. | obvious | possible | design | technical | electrical, engine, mechanical, structural 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 | 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 My mother did nothing but find fault with my schoolboy manners. He's deliberately picking fault with the meal to get a reduction on the bill. | correct, fix, rectify, repair trying to correct the faults in the program | report 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. FAULT + NOUN detection, diagnosis, finding PREP. ~ in Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body. | ~ 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. in tennis ADJ. double | foot VERB + FAULT serve Even tennis champions sometimes serve double faults. geology ADJ. geological FAULT + NOUN line | scarp | system, zone
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
2
general::
Phrase(s): fault someone (for something)
to blame or criticize someone for something. • I can’t fault you for that. I would have done the same thing. • He tended to fault himself for the failure of the project.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
3
general::
something wrong
fault
a problem in a machine, system, design etc that causes damage or makes it not work properly:
• The fire was caused by an electrical fault. • a fault in the engine
defect
a fault in something such as a product or machine, resulting from the way it was made or designed:
• Cars are tested for defects before they leave the factory.
weakness
a part of a plan, system, or argument that is not as good as the other parts, and makes it likely to fail:
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of each method?
flaw
a fault in a plan, system, argument etc, especially one that makes it useless or not effective:
• Your argument has a fundamental flaw. • There was one major flaw in his suggestion – we didn’t have enough money.
bug
a fault in a computer program:
• A bug in the system was quickly fixed.
glitch
a small fault in the way something works, that can usually be easily corrected:
• I noticed a small glitch when installing the software.
mistake
something that is wrong in someone’s spelling, grammar, calculations etc:
• The article was full of spelling mistakes.
there’s something wrong with something
used when saying that there is a problem in a machine, car etc, but you do not know what it is:
• There’s something wrong with the computer – it won’t close down.
Longman-Thesaurus