Definition of 'malfunction'
Word forms: malfunctions plural3rd person singular present tense, malfunctioning present participle, malfunctioned past tense past participle
intransitive verb
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
malfunction in American English
verb intransitive
1.
to fail to function as it should
noun
2.
the act or an instance of malfunctioning
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency
malfunction in American English
(mælˈfʌŋkʃən)
noun
1.
failure to function properly
a malfunction of the liver
the malfunction of a rocket
intransitive verb
2.
to fail to function properly
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1925–30; mal- + function]Examples of 'malfunction' in a sentence
malfunction
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Trends of
malfunction
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In other languages
malfunction
British English: malfunction
VERB /mælˈfʌŋkʃən/
If a machine or part of the body malfunctions, it fails to work properly.
The radiation can cause computer memories to malfunction.
- American English: malfunction /mælˈfʌŋkʃən/
- Brazilian Portuguese: apresentar mal funcionamento
- Chinese: 出故障
- European Spanish: funcionar mal
- French: mal fonctionner
- German: eine Funktionsstörung haben
- Italian: funzionare male
- Japanese: うまく機能しない
- Korean: 제대로 작동하지 않다
- European Portuguese: apresentar avaria
- Spanish: funcionar mal
- Thai: ทำงานผิดปรกติ
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Definition of malfunction from the Collins English Dictionary
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Shakespeare
William. 1564–1616, English dramatist and poet. He was born and died at Stratford-upon-Avon but spent most of his life as an actor and playwright in London. His plays with approximate dates of composition are: Henry VI, Parts I–III (1590); Richard III (1592); The Comedy of Errors (1592); Titus Andronicus (1593); The Taming of the Shrew (1593); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594); Love's Labour's Lost (1594); Romeo and Juliet (1594); Richard II (1595); A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595); King John (1596); The Merchant of Venice (1596); Henry IV, Parts I–II (1597); Much Ado about Nothing (1598); Henry V (1598); Julius Caesar (1599); As You Like It (1599); Twelfth Night (1599); Hamlet (1600); The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600); Troilus and Cressida (1601); All's Well that ends Well (1602); Measure for Measure (1604); Othello (1604); King Lear (1605); Macbeth (1605); Antony and Cleopatra (1606); Coriolanus (1607); Timon of Athens (1607); Pericles (1608); Cymbeline (1609); The Winter's Tale (1610); The Tempest (1611); and, possibly in collaboration with John Fletcher , Two Noble Kinsmen (1612) and Henry VIII (1612). His Sonnets , variously addressed to a fair young man and a dark lady , were published in 1609
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