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See all examples of malfunction. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
Example Sentences. Voters in six counties used the machines during local elections last fall, and the state used the machines for its primaries, but both of those pilots had some equipment malfunctions, and many Georgians have yet to use the machines. From FiveThirtyEight.
malfunction: [verb] to function imperfectly or badly : fail to operate normally.
a situation in which a machine or system stops working normally: Investigators believe the spillage was caused by a malfunction at the plant in the immediate aftermath of the earth tremor. a technical / mechanical / electrical malfunction. a computer / equipment /system (s) malfunction.
If a machine or part of the body malfunctions, it fails to work properly. [formal] The radiation can damage microprocessors and computer memories, causing them to malfunction. [VERB] Early physicians removed the malfunctioning organs. [VERB -ing] Malfunction is also a noun. There must have been a computer malfunction.
To malfunction is to fail to work properly. If your toaster spits out a charred, smoky mess no matter what setting it’s on, your toaster is definitely malfunctioning. When something functions, it works. Adding the prefix -mal (meaning "bad") to function indicates bad or unsuccessful functioning.
Define malfunction. malfunction synonyms, malfunction pronunciation, malfunction translation, English dictionary definition of malfunction. intr.v. mal·func·tioned , mal·func·tion·ing , mal·func·tions To fail to function properly. n. A failure to function properly.
