Fail
Fail verb - To stop functioning.
Sort out
Sort out verb - Arrange or order by classes or categories.
Both terms in one sentence
- Lifebonds sort out most of the really bad cases, but when they fail (or aren't suited for the problem at hand), the results can lead to tragedy.
Source: Literature / Heralds of Valdemar -
Should you invite your aunt down to the 'Neath and fail to sort out her salon opening, you have to stop sailors fighting and a bunch of drunks who'd been doing something... Not Blood Siblings: The Curate and his sister, apparently.
Source: Video Game / Fallen London
Cite this Source
Sort out and Fail. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 13, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/fail/sort_out
Fail & Sort out. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/fail/sort_out>.
Sort out or Fail. 2016. Accessed August 13, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/fail/sort_out.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "fail" and "sort out" have occurred on timeline