as in negligence
the nonperformance of an assigned or expected action
a default in the repayment of a bank loan
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Recent Examples of default
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2025
This year, Clifton allegedly defaulted on a 10-year line of credit with Capital One, according to court records.
—Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2025
Rae Ellen Bichell, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2025
The default rule set for drones weighing below 55 pounds is Part 107, the agency says.
—Nushrat Rahman, Freep.com, 29 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for default
Noun
OpenAI said the system will default to the safer option when age cannot be confirmed.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2025
This year, Clifton allegedly defaulted on a 10-year line of credit with Capital One, according to court records.
—Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2025
Verb
Vedra and other debt law experts said a high rate of default judgments indicates a system that favors the pursuers over the pursued — and increases the chances someone will be harmed by an erroneous bill.
—Rae Ellen Bichell, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2025
The default rule set for drones weighing below 55 pounds is Part 107, the agency says.
—Nushrat Rahman, Freep.com, 29 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for default
Recent Examples of Synonyms for default
Noun
-
Non-Orientable Nkansa, 2017, one of his earliest large-scale installations, announced his dedication to monumental assemblages that fixate on negligence and crumbling edifices.—
Edna Bonhomme,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
-
The Hardimans are seeking damages over the collision, alleging that Campbell drove through a red light and that his negligence caused the crash.—
Nathan Pilling,
Kansas City Star,
28 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The collapse of water security in Iran has been decades in the making and is rooted in a mania for megaprojects—dam building, deep wells, and water transfer schemes—that ignored the fundamentals of hydrology and ecological balance.—
Nik Kowsar,
Time,
2 Oct. 2025
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Pierre LeBrun’s viewpoint Arpon, no doubt the Hughes contract injects a fresh comparable into the discussion that neither the Canadiens nor the Hutson camp can ignore, though using comparables always seems to be in the eye of the beholder.—
Arpon Basu,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Griffith and CityBeat reporter Madeline Fening are facing charges, including disorderly conduct, failure to disperse, obstructing a highway and obstructing an emergency responder.—
Quinlan Bentley,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Luckily, clever Frances must have understood her caper was destined for failure.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In their complaint, the unions allege the budget office's memo unlawfully directs agencies to disregard their own authorizing statutes.—
Franco Ordoñez,
NPR,
2 Oct. 2025
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If a customer has no option to disregard or modify the charge, it cannot be deducted from the employee’s income.—
Bay Area News Group,
Mercury News,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Trying to use last minute overirrigation to make up for a season of neglect — well, that’s not a recipe for anything overly spectacular.—
Paul Cappiello,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025
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Youth who are committed to a detention center are more likely than other juveniles to have suffered abuse and neglect, and strip searches can retraumatize them.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Repeat layers twice more, omitting ricotta on the top layer.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
3 Oct. 2025
-
That statistic refers to fixtures in the Premier League and Champions League league phase, omitting the knockout ties against PSV, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.—
James McNicholas,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Democrats are also hoping to repeal cuts to health care programs that were put in place as part of the GOP spending and tax bill that passed over the summer.—
The NPR Network,
NPR,
6 Oct. 2025
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Often, my opinions or feedback would be passed over in favor of other directions that the team wanted to steer the ship in.—
Blake Simons,
IndieWire,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Jones, again, slighted the punt coverage with a 61-yard return to the Carolina 14-yard line.—
Mike Kaye
September 28,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Sep. 2025
-
The former Michigan and San Diego State coach, simply put, has been slighted by the hall.—
Nick Canepa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Default.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/default. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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