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# malfunction

«malfunction» in Mova's school dictionary: **A failure of a machine or system to work properly** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a malfunction, malfunctions); verb (malfunction, malfunctions, malfunctioned, malfunctioning)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A failure of a machine or system to work properly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#m1)

2) (verb) To stop working correctly: the traffic lights malfunctioned. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#m2)

3) (formal) A fault in how part of the body works. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

Used in technology, science and news reports: computers, rockets, alarms and machines can malfunction. In safety lessons a malfunctioning smoke alarm must be fixed. In everyday talk people say «it broke» or «it's playing up». Phrases: a technical malfunction, an equipment malfunction.

### examples

- The lift had a malfunction and stopped between floors. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#x1)
- Our printer keeps malfunctioning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#x2)
- A computer malfunction delayed the flights. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#x3)
- If the smoke alarm malfunctions, tell an adult. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#x4)
- The robot malfunctioned and spun in circles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#x5)
- The rocket launch was stopped because of a malfunction. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#x6)
- The traffic lights malfunctioned during the storm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#x7)
- Engineers found the cause of the malfunction. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/#x8)

### note

Countable noun: malfunctions. Regular verb: malfunctioned. «mal-» means bad or wrong (as in malnutrition). Formal; casual talk: «broke down», «went wrong», «played up» (UK), «glitch».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «malfunction» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malfunction/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.