without fail
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Well, there's still hope; once I ' ve saved enough money to pay back my parents ' debts to him - that should take another five or six years - I'll do it without fail.
He writes every week without fail.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review.
Common questions
What does “without fail” mean?
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Is “without fail” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.