1 [mass noun] 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 [count noun]:the deteriorating economy pushed defaults to almost $20 billion
2 [in singular] 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 [as modifier]:default settings
[usually as modifier] something that is usual or standard:all my life, envy has been my default emotionSSRIs have become the default for adults with depression
ზმნა
Universal
1fail 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 defaultedsome had defaulted on student loans
[with object] declare (a party) to have defaulted and give judgement against that party:two semi-finalists were defaulted
2 (default to) (of a computer program or other mechanism) revert automatically to (a preselected option):when you start a fresh letter the system will default to its own style
by default
because of a lack of opposition:they won the last election by default
through lack of positive action rather than conscious choice:he became an actor by default
go by default
Law (of a case) be decided in favour of one party because of lack of opposition by the other party:the case against us has gone by default
in default
guilty of failing to repay a loan or appear in a law court:the company is already in default on its loans
in default of
in the absence of:in default of agreement the rent was to be determined by a surveyor
