fault

Related to fault: thrust fault, San Andreas Fault, electrical fault

at fault

Responsible for a problem, mistake, or other incident. The other driver was definitely at fault—I was just sitting at a red light when he rear-ended me! I know I was at fault, so I will apologize to Sara today.
See also: fault

everyone can find fault, few can do better

proverb It is much easier to criticize than it is to actually implement improvements. Of course Sue thinks we could have done a better job with the book sale, but I didn't hear her offering any suggestions while we were planning it. Everyone can find fault, few can do better. Everyone can find fault, few can do better—that's why their changes didn't actually generate more sales.
See also: better, can, everyone, few, find

find fault with (someone or something)

To find a problem or issue with someone or something; to judge someone or something harshly. Kristen will be single forever if she keeps finding fault with every man she dates. How could you find fault with this project? It met all of the requirements on the rubric.
See also: fault, find

generous to a fault

Prone to generosity, perhaps excessively so. Of course you gave Sean money again—you're generous to a fault.
See also: fault, generous

honest to a fault

Honest to an extreme or excessive degree; more honest than is usual or necessary. Jim wouldn't even tell a white lie—he's honest to a fault. It can actually be a little bit irritating sometimes. The police sergeant is honest to a fault, following every regulation and guideline without question.
See also: fault, honest

love sees no faults

People are unable or unwilling to see the flaws in those with whom they are in love. Everyone kept telling me that she had too many issues to be in a stable relationship, but I couldn't bring myself to listen until things started getting bad between us. Love sees no faults, I guess.
See also: fault, love, no, see

to a fault

To an extreme to excessive degree; more than is usual or necessary. Jim is polite to a fault—it can actually be a little bit irritating sometimes. The police sergeant is honest to a fault, following every regulation and guideline without question.
See also: fault
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

at fault

to blame [for something]; serving as the cause of something bad. I was not at fault in the accident. You cannot blame me.
See also: fault

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.

find fault (with someone or something)

to find things wrong with someone or something. We were unable to find fault with his arguments. Sally's father was always finding fault with her.
See also: fault, find

generous to a fault

Cliché too generous; overly generous. My favorite uncle is generous to a fault. Sally—always generous to a fault—gave away her lunch to a homeless man.
See also: fault, generous
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

at fault

Responsible for a mistake, trouble, or failure; deserving blame. For example, At least three cars were involved in the accident, so it was hard to determine which driver was at fault , or He kept missing the target and wondered if the sight on his new rifle was at fault. In Britain this usage was formerly considered incorrect but is now acceptable; in America it has been widespread since the mid-1800s. Also see in the wrong.
See also: fault

find fault

Criticize, express dissatisfaction with, as in She was a difficult traveling companion, constantly finding fault with the hotel, meal service, and tour guides . [Mid-1500s]
See also: fault, find

to a fault

Excessively, extremely, as in He was generous to a fault. This phrase, always qualifying an adjective, has been so used since the mid-1700s. Indeed, Oliver Goldsmith had this precise usage in The Life of Richard Nash (1762).
See also: fault
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

to a fault

COMMON If someone has a good quality to a fault, they have more of this quality than is usual or necessary. She was generous to a fault and tried to see that we had everything we needed. He's honest to a fault, brave, dedicated, and fiercely proud of the New York Police Department.
See also: fault
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

— to a fault

(of someone or something displaying a particular commendable quality) to an extent verging on excess.
1995 Bill Bryson Notes from a Small Island Anyway, that's the kind of place Bournemouth is—genteel to a fault and proud of it.
See also: fault
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

at ˈfault

responsible for doing wrong, making a mistake, etc.; to be blamed: The inquiry will decide who was at fault over the loss of the funds. I don’t feel that I am at fault. After all, I didn’t know I was breaking a rule.
See also: fault

to a ˈfault

(written) used to say that somebody has a lot, or even too much of a particular good quality: He was generous to a fault.
See also: fault

find ˈfault (with somebody/something)

look for faults or mistakes in somebody/something, often so that you can criticize them/it: He’s always finding fault with the children, even when they are doing nothing wrong. I can find no fault with this essay; it’s the best I’ve ever read. OPPOSITE: sing somebody’s/something’s praises
See also: fault, find
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

at fault

1. Deserving of blame; guilty: admitted to being at fault.
2. Confused and puzzled.
See also: fault

find fault

To seek, find, and complain about faults; criticize: found fault with his speech.
See also: fault, find

to a fault

To an excessive degree: generous to a fault.
See also: fault
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.

to a fault

Excessively so. This locution, which is always applied to a quality that is inherently good but may not be so in excess—for example, “generous to a fault”—dates from the nineteenth century. The fault in question, of course, is that of excess. Robert Browning used it in The Ring and the Book (1868), “Faultless to a fault”—that is, too perfect. A similar phrase is to a fare-the-well, but it implies perfection and not necessarily excess. For example, “The table was decorated to a fare-the-well; nothing was lacking.” See also too much of a good thing.
See also: fault
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • at fault
  • at the rear of
  • rear
  • be bringing up the rear
  • beam in (one's) eye
  • a beam in your eye
  • bring up the rear
  • an axe hanging over someone
  • an axe hanging over something
  • ax
References in periodicals archive
Ortega, "Fault detection by means of Hilbert-Huang transform of the stator current in a PMSM with demagnetization," IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, vol.25, no.2, pp.312-318, June 2010, doi: 10.1109/TEC.2009.2037922.
Ding, "Detection and discrimination of open-phase fault in permanent magnet synchronous motor drive system," IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol.31, no.7, pp.4697-4709, July 2016, doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2015.
Electrical Signature Analysis for Condition Monitoring of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine
* The fault detection agent is responsible for extracting more information about the building systems than is directly measurable from sensors.
* The fault diagnostic agent collects fault symptoms then processes them through fault diagnostic algorithms.
Development of a Distributed Building Fault Detection, Diagnostic, and Evaluation System
If the FPGA size is considered as S, and the application circuit is divided into N submodules each with area [A.sub.module], and a fault detection technique for each module with area [A.sub.detection], then the total area of the application is given by equation 1.
When distinguishing between transient and permanent faults, the number of tolerated faults can be increased, where transient fault does not require relocation and can be recovered by reconfiguration.
Transient and Permanent Adaptive Fault Classifier for FPGA Applications in the Space
In Metro Manila, the agency maintains 20 continuous GPS to monitor the West Valley Fault, which Phivolcs warned is ripe for movement.
To make the active fault maps easily accessible to everyone, Phivolcs created the web-based application, FaultFinder.
Philippines has hidden quake faults
The Fangzheng fault depression has mainly controlled by tectonic activities such as strike-slip and compression of the Tan-Lu fault zone and the thermal uplift caused by deep geological processes.
Fangzheng fault depression from south to north seismic profile shows different fault depression structures (Fig.
Study on the relationship between multi-stage strike-slip mechanism and basin evolution in Fangzheng fault depression/Estudio sobre la relacion entre el mecanismo de deslizamiento por etapas y la evolucion de la cuenca en la depresion por falla Fangzheng
A new list of second-hand vehicles also shows their most common faults and when they become a problem for drivers across the UK.
The findings are based on a number of key indicators, including the numbers of claims against faults and how much each car costs, reportThe Sun.
Top 10 most unreliable used cars revealed - and what is most likely to go wrong; New list based on warranty claims uncovers the ten most undependable second-hand motors you can buy on the market today - ranging from the Renault Clio, Seat Ibiza and Mini Cooper to the Vauxhall Astra, Peugeot 207 and Range Rover Sport
Seismic faults are seismically active geologic faults.
Lawmaker raises question of construction of high-rise buildings on Issyk-Ata seismic fault
In this paper, time-varying fault f(t) is considered.
Time-Varying Fault Diagnosis for Asynchronous Multisensor Systems Based on Augmented IMM and Strong Tracking Filtering
(3) The ability of sensor nodes to collect data is not fully utilized, and only the spatial correlation of the sensor network is used to achieve fault detection so that the complexity of algorithms increases significantly
Fault Detection Modelling and Analysis in a Wireless Sensor Network