mass noun
1
- failure to fulfil an obligation, especially to repay a loan or appear in a law court不履行, 违约, 拖欠; 未到庭：
it will have to restructure its debts to avoid default.
必须重新整合债务才能避免拖欠。
2
- a pre-selected option adopted by a computer program or other mechanism when no alternative is specified by the user or programmer默认值。
no obj.
1
- fail to fulfil an obligation, especially to repay a loan or to appear in a law court不履行, 拖欠; 未到庭：
some had defaulted on student loans.
有些人拖欠了学生贷款。
1.1
- with obj. declare (a party) in default and give judgement against that party因未到场而取消…参赛资格：
two semi-finalists were defaulted, then reinstated.
两名半决赛选手因未到场被取消参赛资格后重新获得资格。
2
default to
(of a computer program or other mechanism) revert automatically to (a pre-selected option)（计算机程序或其他机制）自动转到（默认值）：when you start a fresh letter the system will default to its own style.
你要重新写封信的时候, 系统会自动转到默认格式。
短语
by default
1
- because of a lack of opposition由于缺少对手。
1.1
- through lack of positive action rather than conscious choice不经意地：
he became an actor by default.
他因为偶然的机会成为演员。
go by default
- be decided in favour of one party because of lack of opposition by the other party因一方未提出反对而判另一方获胜：
the case against us has gone by default.
由于诉方未提出反对, 我们赢了这场官司。
in default
- guilty of failing to repay a loan or appear in a law court拖欠违约, 不出庭罪：
the company is already in default on its loans.
该公司因其拖欠贷款已经违约。
in default of
- in the absence of因缺少, 在缺乏…时：
in default of agreement the rent was to be determined by a surveyor.
由于没有协议, 租金将由房产稽查员决定。
词源
Middle English: from Old French defaut, from defaillir 'to fail'， based on Latin fallere 'disappoint， deceive'.