act of failing to meet a financial obligation
"After missing his rent payment for two months, the landlord sent him an eviction notice citing his repeated defaults on lease obligations."
loss resulting from failure of a debt to be paid
"After months of ignoring his credit card bill, he finally faced the harsh reality that his account had gone into default, leaving him unable to get any new loans."
an option that is selected automatically unless an alternative is specified
"When I first set up my email account, spam filtering was enabled by default."
The condition of failing to meet an obligation.
"He fell into default on his mortgage payments when he lost his job and couldn't afford the monthly bills."
In plain English: A default is the automatic choice that happens when you don't pick anything else.
"The company defaulted on its loan payments."
Usage: Use "default" as a noun to describe the state of failing to fulfill a duty or payment obligation, such as missing a loan installment. It refers specifically to the breach itself rather than the act of refusing to do something intentionally.
fail to pay up
"He defaulted on his student loan payments after losing his job last year."
To fail to meet an obligation.
"He defaulted on his loan payments after losing his job last month."
In plain English: To default means to fail to pay money you owe on time.
"The computer defaulted to the previous settings when I tried to install the new software."
Usage: Use "default" as a verb when someone fails to fulfill a financial obligation or misses a court hearing without valid excuse. It specifically describes the act of neglecting a duty rather than simply refusing to do something voluntarily.
The word default comes from the Middle English defaut, which was borrowed from Old French to mean a fault or failure. It traces its roots back to Latin, where it originally described something that deceived someone by escaping their notice.