fehlschlagen — meaning in English

English meaning

• backfire verb Of an engine or gun, to ignite or explode unexpectedly in the wrong direction, often with a loud pop.
• error noun A mistake, especially one made unintentionally.
• fail verb To be unsuccessful in achieving something.
• fizzle verb To gradually fail or fade away after a promising start.
• misfire verb To fail to fire or ignite properly, as with a gun or an engine.

Senses

fehlschlagen is used for these senses in English:

• backfire (idiomatic, transitive) To fail in a manner that brings down further misfortune.
• break down (intransitive) To fail, especially socially or for political reasons.
• error (telecommunications) To show or contain an error or fault.
• fail (transitive) Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.)
• fall through (intransitive, idiomatic) To be unsuccessful, come to nothing; to be cancelled; not to proceed.
• fizzle (figuratively, informal) To decay or die off to nothing; to burn out; to end less successfully than previously hoped.
• misfire (by extension) To fail to achieve the anticipated result.

backfire — full definition

1. verb Of an engine or gun, to ignite or explode unexpectedly in the wrong direction, often with a loud pop.
2. verb To produce the opposite result to the one intended, making the situation worse.

error — full definition

1. noun A mistake, especially one made unintentionally.
2. noun A malfunction or fault reported by a machine or computer program.
3. noun The difference between a measured or calculated value and the true or correct value.

Related German words