structural failure

noun

Loss of the load-carrying capacity of a component or member within a structure or of the structure itself. Structural failure is initiated when the material in a structure is stressed to its strength limit, thus causing fracture or excessive deformations.

“Structural failure will occur in three minutes, 30 seconds.”

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Meanings

nounstructural failure (countable and uncountable, plural structural failures)

plural structural failures

  1. countableuncountableengineeringLoss of the load-carrying capacity of a component or member within a structure or of the structure itself. Structural failure is initiated when the material in a structure is stressed to its strength limit, thus causing fracture or excessive deformations.

    Structural failure will occur in three minutes, 30 seconds.

    1 more example

    Three buildings in the World Trade Center Complex collapsed due to structural failure on the day of the attack.

Origin

From structure and failure.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

structural failure. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/structural%20failure

MLA

“structural failure.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/structural%20failure. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “structural failure,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/structural%20failure.

Source: structural failure on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.