fail to win; "We lost the battle but we won the war"
suffer the loss of a person through death or removal; "She lost her husband in the war"; "The couple that wanted to adopt the child lost her when the biological parents claimed her"
allow to go out of sight; "The detective lost the man he was shadowing after he had to stop at a red light"
miss from one's possessions; lose sight of; "I've lost my glasses again!"
fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense; "She lost her purse when she left it unattended on her seat"
fail to get or obtain; "I lost the opportunity to spend a year abroad"
fail to make money in a business; make a loss or fail to profit; "I lost thousands of dollars on that bad investment!"; "The company turned a loss after the first year"
the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable; "there is a serious lack of insight into the problem"; "water is the critical deficiency in desert regions"; "for want of a nail the shoe was lost"
financially sound; "a good investment"; "a secure investment"
consistent in performance or behavior; "dependable in one's habits"; "a steady-going family man"
worthy of being depended on; "a dependable worker"; "an honest working stiff"; "a reliable source of information"; "he was true to his word"; "I would be true for there are those who trust me"
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"