stop operating or functioning; "The engine finally went"; "The car died on the road"; "The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town"; "The coffee maker broke"; "The engine failed on the way to town"; "her eyesight went after the accident"
prove insufficient; "The water supply for the town failed after a long drought"
disappoint, prove undependable to; abandon, forsake; "His sense of smell failed him this time"; "His strength finally failed him"; "His children failed him in the crisis"
become bankrupt or insolvent; fail financially and close; "The toy company went bankrupt after the competition hired cheap Mexican labor"; "A number of banks failed that year"
fall short in what is expected; "She failed in her obligations as a good daughter-in-law"; "We must not fail his obligation to the victims of the Holocaust"
fail to get a passing grade; "She studied hard but failed nevertheless"; "Did I fail the test?"
judge unacceptable; "The teacher failed six students"
be unsuccessful; "Where do today's public schools fail?"; "The attempt to rescue the hostages failed miserably"
fail to do something; leave something undone; "She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib"; "The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account"
bear (a cost or penalty), in recompense for some action; "You'll pay for this!"; "She had to pay the penalty for speaking out rashly"; "You'll pay for this opinion later"
give money, usually in exchange for goods or services; "I paid four dollars for this sandwich"; "Pay the waitress, please"
discharge or settle; "pay a debt"; "pay an obligation"
do or give something to somebody in return; "Does she pay you for the work you are doing?"
make a compensation for; "a favor that cannot be paid back"
declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of; "He admitted his errors"; "She acknowledged that she might have forgotten"
allow participation in or the right to be part of; permit to exercise the rights, functions, and responsibilities of; "admit someone to the profession"; "She was admitted to the New Jersey Bar"
allow to enter; grant entry to; "We cannot admit non-members into our club"
serve as a means of entrance; "This ticket will admit one adult to the show"
give access or entrance to; "The French doors admit onto the yard"
afford possibility; "This problem admits of no solution"; "This short story allows of several different interpretations"
a serve that strikes the net before falling into the receiver's court; the ball must be served again
leave unchanged; "let it be"
actively cause something to happen; "I let it be known that I was not interested"
make it possible through a specific action or lack of action for something to happen; "This permits the water to rush in"; "This sealed door won't allow the water come into the basement"; "This will permit the rain to run off"