n(1) 缺点(陷)，毛病(something wrong;imperfection) [C]：love sb despite of his～s 尽管某人有缺点依旧爱他;The～of the book is that it is too long. 这本书的不足之处是太长了。There is a～in the engine/in his character. 发动机有毛病/他的性格有缺陷。Every man has his～s. 人人都有缺点。〖同〗shortcoming，defect，imperfection，weakness， drawback;〖反〗merit，virtue，perfection;

(2) (应承担责任的) 过失(错)(sth for which one is to blame) [U]：That is no～of yours. 那绝不是你的错。It was all/entirely my～. 全怪我。It's your own～for not studying hard. 学习不刻苦全是你自己的过错。It's his own～that this happened. 之所以会发生这种事全怪他自己。The～is on their side. 过错在他们一方。“Whose～is it that the plan failed?” “The～is mine/lies with me. ” “那个计划失败了是谁的过错?”“是我的过错/错在我。” 〖同〗 blame，guilt，responsibility，negligence;〖反〗 credit;

(3) 错误(sth wrongly done;mistake or error) [C]：acknowledge/confess one's～s 承认自己的错误;commit a～犯错误;The article has several～s of grammar/of spelling. 那篇文章有几处语法/拚写错误。All the～s in the paper have been corrected by my teacher. 论文中所有的错误都由我的老师改正了。〖同〗 error，mistake，offense，wrong-doing;

(4) (网球等的) 发球失误(bad service in tennis，etc) [C];

(5) (地质) 断层(crack in the rock surface of the earth) [C];

at fault 有毛病(错误，故障)：We are at～for speaking to him so sharply. 我们对他那样尖刻地讲话是不对的。

find fault with 找毛病，挑错：You are always finding～with the way I do my work. 你总是对我的工作方法挑毛病。

in fault 有(犯)错的：Am I in～? 我错了吗?

to a fault 过分：He's kind to a～. 他心肠好得过分了。

→′faultful adj 毛病多的;′faultless adj 无瑕的，完美的;′faultlessly adv 无瑕地;完美地;′faultlessness n 无瑕，完美;′faulty adj 有缺点的;′faultily adv 有缺点地;′faultiness n 有错误;

v 找出毛病(错) (find a fault in) [T+n]：We cannot～him in matters of grammar/in his performance. 我们挑不出他语法方面/表演中的毛病。His new theory is hard to～. 很难从他的新理论中找出错误。〖同〗 blame，criticize;〖反〗credit，praise;

→′faulted adj 有缺点的;

【辨异】 1) fault及weakness 都可以指一个人身上存在的缺点或毛病。fault是常用词，指比较轻微的缺点或毛病，词义中没有责备或谴责的含义，如：His only fault is that he lacks ambition. (他唯一的缺点就是缺少抱负。) weakness(弱点，缺点) 指一种无法控制的、并不易改正和克服的缺陷，如：Leaving things about is one of her weakness. (到处乱放东西是她的毛病之一。) 2) fault与defect、flaw、error和mistake 的区别见DEFECT。