Cover
Cover verb - To serve as a replacement usually for a time only.
Fail
Fail verb - To stop functioning.
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
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Pumbaa usually has a habit of blowing their cover by speaking out loud (giving that he's always the one underneath), which is why their attempts usually fail.
Source: Totem Pole Trench - Unpleasable Fanbase can cover all of the above, but is about how any effort to please the fans will fail because of differing desires.
Source: Trope Distinctions / A to C -
Many episodes of Super Mario Logan have Bowser Junior do something bad and try to cover it up, only to fail miserably.
Source: Laser-Guided Karma
Cite this Source
Fail and Cover. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/cover/fail
Cover & Fail. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/cover/fail>.
Fail or Cover. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/cover/fail.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "cover" and "fail" have occurred on timeline