as in to fail
to fail to function or work properly
A software problem is causing the system to malfunction.
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Recent Examples of malfunction
Pro-Palestinian hacker group Dark Storm Team has claimed responsibility for carrying out a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on X, designed to inundate a platform into temporarily malfunctioning.
—
Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
Ater can then be seen crossing to another car to speak to the other suspects before turning back and shooting at Marchbanks and Pennington, though detectives believe her gun malfunctioned or jammed, court documents read.
—Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 8 Apr. 2025
But Minnesota has repeatedly malfunctioned at the most inopportune times.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 2 Apr. 2025
But during the docking process, several thrusters on the spacecraft’s service module, which are used to move the capsule around in orbit, malfunctioned.
—NBC News, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malfunction
Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
Ater can then be seen crossing to another car to speak to the other suspects before turning back and shooting at Marchbanks and Pennington, though detectives believe her gun malfunctioned or jammed, court documents read.
—Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 8 Apr. 2025
But Minnesota has repeatedly malfunctioned at the most inopportune times.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 2 Apr. 2025
But during the docking process, several thrusters on the spacecraft’s service module, which are used to move the capsule around in orbit, malfunctioned.
—NBC News, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for malfunction
Cite this Entry
“Malfunction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/malfunction. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
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