failure
state or event of not meeting a desired or intended objective
technical failure
unintended error of technology based systems, often leading to undesired disruption of normal operation
barrel distortion
image distortion in photographs caused by inherent imperfections in the camera/lens optical system, resulting in an image where straight lines appear slightly bent, stronger near image borders, such that square objects appear rounded or "bloated"
electrical breakdown
when current flows through an electrical insulator when the voltage applied across it exceeds the breakdown voltage
firearm malfunction
different types of failures of a firearm to operate as intended
calamity
a misfortune, evil or emergency
collision
situation in which simultaneous demands are made on equipment unable to handle multiple requests
goal
method of scoring in many sports
default
failure to meet the legal obligations of a loan or other financial contract
catastrophic failure
a sudden and total failure that often leads to cascading systems failure, from which recovery is impossible
pincushion distortion
image distortion in photographs wherein square objects appear to have an outer shape like a pillow; due to imperfections in the camera/lens system, resulting in an image where straight lines appear slightly bent which is stronger near image borders
babbling idiot
failure condition on a computer bus or network in which a malfunctioning node sends data at inappropriate times thus interfering with the communication of the working nodes
hard disk drive failure
failure mode of hard disks
cache pollution
performance degration due to memory access patterns
choke
sports term
memory error
loss or incorrect recall of remembered information
hard start
type of rocket failure
Epic Fail
internet slang for a failure above and beyond expectations
thrashing
phenomenon that when a computer's virtual memory subsystem is in a constant state of paging, rapidly exchanging data in memory for data on disk, to the exclusion of most application-level processing
distraction
diversion of attention away from an intended focus
stall
unexpected, sudden stopping of the engine turning, usually brought about accidentally
wrong-side failure
failure condition resulting in an unsafe state
hit and run
failing to stop after causing or contributing to a traffic accident
glitch
short-lived fault in a technical system
buckling
sudden change in shape of an elongate structural component under load
product defect
product characteristic which hinders usability for its intended purpose for which it was designed and manufactured
structural failure
engineering event in which the structural integrity of a construction is compromised by failure of components of the structure
spoiler effect
phenomenon in which support for a minor candidate results in a win by the major candidate with the less compatible ideology or platform
defeat
loss in a battle or other contest; opposite of victory
procrastination
habitual or intentional delay of starting or finishing a task despite knowing potential negative consequences
market failure
situation in which the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not efficient and can be improved upon from the societal point of view, often leading to a net loss of economic value
leak
process of matter, often liquid, escaping containment
business failure
a company ceasing operations following its inability to make a profit or to bring in enough revenue to cover its expenses
failure of imagination
circumstance wherein something seemingly predictable (particularly from hindsight) and undesirable was not planned for
foolishness
lack or failure of wisdom
default
failure to do something required by law (e.g. pay a debt or appear in legal proceedings)
academic failure
Failing process in education
therapeutic failure
measure of the quality of health care by unsuccessful results of management and procedures used for disease
government failure
economic inefficiency caused by a government intervention, if the inefficiency would not exist in a true free market
forgetting
loss or failure to recall information stored in human memory
societal collapse
fall or disintegration of complex human societies, involving causative factors such as natural disasters, environmental change, depletion of resources, unsustainable complexity, decay of social cohesion, rising inequality, and loss of creativity
cascading failure
process in a system of interconnected parts in which the failure of one or few parts can trigger the failure of other parts and so on
Sticky-shed syndrome
physical degradation process
Timing failure
failure of a process, or part of a process, in a synchronous distributed system or real-time system to meet limits set on execution time, message delivery, clock drift rate, or clock skew
breakdown
damage or breakage event that compromises the functioning of a system or a machine
state collapse
the catastrophic failure and downfall of a government