default

//dɪˈfɔːlt//
B2Frequency Level 8Neutral
Visual representation of default

Noun

defaultsPlural
1

Failure to fulfill an obligation, especially to repay a loan or appear in a court of law

The company went bankrupt after a default on its loan payments.

2

A preselected option adopted by a computer program or other mechanism when no alternative is specified by the user or programmer

The system will use the default settings if you don't make any changes.

3

The state or condition of not meeting a required standard or expectation

The company's performance was in default of industry standards.

Verb

1

To fail to fulfill an obligation, especially to repay a loan or to appear in court

The company defaulted on its loan payments.

2

To revert automatically to a preselected option when no alternative is specified

If you don't choose a language, the system will default to English.

Synonym

Antonym