default
n. C / Un. the setting or choice that happens automatically if you do not pick something else. It can also mean failing to pay back a loan on time.
n. a preselected option adopted by a computer program or other mechanism when no alternative is specified by the user; also, the failure to fulfil a legal or financial obligation.
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If you do not change your privacy settings, the system uses the default options which share your location with friends.
The sudden increase in interest rates led to a wave of mortgage defaults, forcing the bank to re-evaluate its lending criteria for first-time buyers.
From Middle English defaut, defaute, from Old French defaute (“fault, defect, failure, culpability, lack”), ultimately from Latin de- (“away”) + fallo (“deceive, cheat, escape notice of”).
Often used in the prepositional phrase 'by default' to describe something that happens because no one intervened or changed it.
He defaulted his loanHe defaulted on his loanWhen used as a verb meaning failure to pay, it requires the preposition 'on' before the debt.