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   default

   noun

   • 1. failure to fulfil an obligation, especially to repay a loan or appear in a law court: "the company will have to restructure its debts to avoid default" Similar non-paymentfailure to paynon-remittanceinformal:welshingbilkingarchaic:levantOpposite repayment
   • 2. a preselected option adopted by a computer program or other mechanism when no alternative is specified by the user or programmer: "the default is fifty lines"
   • ▪ something that is usual or standard: "all my life, envy has been my default emotion" Similar normalstandardusualtypicalstockordinarycustomaryconventionalhabitualaccustomedexpectedwontedeverydayregularroutineestablishedsettledsetunvaryinginvariableunchangingchangelessunvariedconsistentconstantstablesteadystaticuniformpredictableobviousfavouritechoicepreferredidealinstinctiveautomaticinvoluntaryunconsciousreflexknee-jerkmechanicalspontaneousimpulsiveunthinkingunpremeditatedunintentionalunintendedunbiddenunwittinginadvertentinformal:gutOpposite atypicalvaryingconsciousdeliberate

   verb

   • 1. fail to fulfil an obligation, especially to repay a loan or to appear in a law court: "the dealer could repossess the goods if the customer defaulted" Similar fail to paynot payrenegefail to honourback outbacktrackbackslidebreak one's promise/wordgo back on one's wordinformal:welshbilkOpposite repay
   • ▪ declare (a party) to have defaulted and give judgement against that party: "two semi-finalists were defaulted"
   • 2. (of a device or computer program) revert automatically to (a preselected option): "when you start a fresh letter the system will default to its own style" Similar revertselect automatically
   • ▪ adopt or revert to (something that is usual, customary, or standard, especially a behaviour or course of action): "when it comes to a crisis, he defaults to being a professional politician" Similar revertselect automatically

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old French defaut, from defaillir ‘to fail’, based on Latin fallere ‘disappoint, deceive’.

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • D

     2

   • E

     1

   • F

     4

   • A

     1

   • U

     1

   • L

     1

   • T

     1

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