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
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
Not only that, the cartographic malfunction included completely unrecognisable shapes of the six misidentified countries.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Not as good as yesterday, but I lost some time to the drill malfunction.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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There were 15 reported firework-related deaths nationwide in 2025, with most involving misuse and device misfire or malfunctions, according to the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
He policed brushback pitches with ardor and once called a night game for darkness when lighting malfunctions compromised visibility near home plate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
Satellites passing through this region are exposed to elevated levels of radiation, increasing the risk of technical malfunctions, hardware damage, and even temporary outages.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 25, 2026
Orbital changes of satellites also increase the risk of collision and space weather can also play havoc with sensitive electronics on board, causing malfunctions.
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2025
Didn’t you have the right to know where something came from, so that you knew what malfunctions might be in store?
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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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
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
According to the MMWR, investigators said the cooling tower had malfunctioned, leading to either very little or no injection of chemicals that would prevent bacterial growth.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
When the equipment abruptly malfunctioned, Jim went on alone, hitting a few sour notes.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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It started appearing in my parents’ pantry in Costco two-packs, usually beside gigantic cases of bottled water, enough paper towels to absorb a malfunctioning sprinkler system and gallon-sized jugs of olive oil.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
A young man from Tatooine sets out to find his malfunctioning droid and ends up saving the galaxy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
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
In Italy, courts in Palermo, Sicily, said they were suspending all non-urgent hearings until June 29 due to "malfunctioning air conditioning" while teaching unions in France called for strike action over "unacceptable working conditions".
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Everything’s going to be okay, sweetheart,” she says because she’s a people-mechanic and always knows when I’m malfunctioning.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
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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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