malfunction
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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After a delay for a PitchCom malfunction, Skubal gave up a leadoff double to Detroit’s Gleyber Torres on a fastball down the middle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
Volatility was contained, and trading was orderly—not a malfunction but the machine doing its job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
When gene activation goes wrong, cells can malfunction and contribute to diseases, including cancer.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
We’ve had water treatment failures, chemical imbalances brought on by malfunction, E. coli contamination, and the people of Flint, Michigan, of course, appreciate the criticality of clean water better than anyone in the country.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
“It’s some kind of malfunction in my brain.”
From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling
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In the movie, Bolleau played the teen daughter of two scientists who build a time machine that malfunctions, forcing the kids to take care of their parents as they “de-age” and become children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
When spots in premium-format theaters went on sale last week, ticketing sites including Fandango and AMC Theatres faced a bottleneck of traffic that resulted in buyers reporting malfunctions and marathon waits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
In a tongue-in-cheek post to Instagram, Glass Animals - best known for their 2020 sleeper-hit Heat Waves - claimed culpability for the lunar lavatory malfunctions.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
Strong solar storms however bring more than just stunning light displays -- they can also disrupt communication systems and cause satellite malfunctions and power grid overloads.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
Plane crashes are much more likely to be the result of an accumulation of minor difficulties and seemingly trivial malfunctions.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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German officials said Berlin had calibrated its response to the Leipzig incident in part to reflect the fact that the drones had malfunctioned and caused no damage or victims.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Its woes hit a nadir last week when a radio communications system malfunctioned, crippling nationwide for several hours and leaving thousands of passengers stranded in trains.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
One of Starship's engines also malfunctioned, which forced a slightly longer burn from the remaining five to compensate.
From BBC ● May 23, 2026
The vehicle had coasted through space but was not in exactly the correct orbit after one of its engines malfunctioned during an initial burn.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
I feel this brief panic as I think, What would happen if one of those elements malfunctioned or just stopped working altogether?
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
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It works by removing a patient’s own immune cells, engineering them in a lab to hunt down and kill malfunctioning cells and then infusing them back into the body.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Scott is fascinated by the character, a malfunctioning AI.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
I have a similar complaint, but this relates to a toilet that is malfunctioning.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026
A van driver who killed the passenger of a broken-down car on a smart motorway where the safety alert system was malfunctioning has been given a suspended sentence.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
I progressed well for the first few days, until my kidneys started malfunctioning.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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Vocabulary lists containing malfunction
"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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A Thousand Splendid Suns
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