der Ausfall
Translation
failure, outage, loss, cancellation
Examples
Der Stromausfall war ein großes Problem.
The power outage was a big problem.
Wir hatten gestern mehrere Systemausfälle.
We had several system failures yesterday.
Der Ausfall der Ernte war eine Katastrophe.
The crop failure was a catastrophe.
Grammar Patterns
((a failure/outage)) ((of sth.)) a failure of sth. The failure of the system was unexpected.
Similar Words
die Störung (disruption), die Panne (breakdown), der Verlust (loss)
Etymology
From the verb 'ausfallen' (to fall out, to fail). Something 'falls out' of operation.
Memory Tips
Picture a crucial part 'falling out' ('aus-fallen') of a machine, causing a complete 'Ausfall' (failure).