Noun

(countable, uncountable) inclination towards something; predisposition, partiality, prejudice, preference, predilection

* 1748 . David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 4.

nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biasses to draw too much

* John Locke

Morality influences men's lives, and gives a bias to all their actions.

(countable, textiles) the diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric

(countable, textiles) A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.

(electronics) a voltage or current applied for example to a transistor electrode

(statistics) the difference between the expectation of the sample estimator and the true population value, which reduces the representativeness of the estimator by systematically distorting it

(sports) In the game of crown green bowls: a weight added to one side of a bowl so that as it rolls, it will follow a curved rather than a straight path; the oblique line followed by such a bowl; the lopsided shape or structure of such a bowl.

* Sir Walter Scott

there is a concealed bias within the spheroid

Noun

(en noun)

State or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, opposite of success.

* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 5, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport

, title= Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool , passage=For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places.}}

* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 23, author=Angelique Chrisafis, work=the Guardian

, title= François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election , passage=Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure . It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.}}

An object, person or endeavour in a state of failure or incapable of success.

Termination of the ability of an item to perform its required function, breakdown.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)

, volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.}}