Idioms

at fault

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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. Oh sure, from her point of view, I'm at fault—but I swear, I did nothing wrong!
See also: fault
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

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
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

faulty

1. mod. fake. Faulty leather on this chair. Gimme the real stuff.
2. mod. wrong. No. You are just faulty about the number.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

at fault

1. Deserving of blame; guilty: admitted to being at fault.
2. Confused and puzzled.
See also: fault
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
Caption: Figure 4: SCF current at fault location X when the SCF occurs at fault location X with 40 [ohm] fault resistance on the wind/PV GCS.
Caption: Figure 5: SCF currents without Peterson coil at fault location X when the SCF occurs on the wind/PV GCS.
Caption: Figure 8: Faulted phase current with Peterson coil of 58.6 H at fault location X with the SLG fault on the wind/PV GCS.
Effect of Neutral Grounding Protection Methods for Compensated Wind/PV Grid-Connected Hybrid Power Systems
Further more, dependency of neutral point voltage on the value of fault impedance at fault location has been presented.
Neural voltage and current dependency on fault impedance value in medium voltage networks
In contrast, under no-fault, an accident victim does not need to prove that anyone was at fault before he gets his money.
And what about the broad gray area in which most traffic accidents occur--cases where both drivers are at fault? Maybe one fellow was speeding because he was a little anxious about being late for an important business meeting.
Whatever happened to no-fault?
"It's hard to turn the results from Parkfield into a general method for looking at faults," he says.
Tiny earthquakes hint at larger shocks
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