1. Lat. fall-o (the sigma being lost):—; to make to fall, throw down, overthrow , properly by tripping up, to trip up in wrestling , (Homer), etc.; σφ. ναῦς to throw her on her beam-ends , (Plutarch); ἵππος σφ. τὸν ἀναβάτην throws him, (Xenophon Historicus):—;Pass. to be tripped up , (Aristophanes Comicus); of a drunken man, σφαλλόμενος reeling, staggering , (Aristophanes Comicus)

2. generally, to cause to fall, overthrow, defeat , (Herdotus Historicus):—;Pass. to be overthrown, to fall, fail, be undone, become helpless , (Herdotus Historicus), attic; τόδ᾽ ἐσφάλη this mishap took place , (Sophocles Tragicus); οὔ τι μὴ σφαλῶ γ᾽ ἐν σοί I shall not fail in thy business, (Sophocles Tragicus)

3. to baffle, foil, balk, disappoint , (Herdotus Historicus):—;Pass. to err, go wrong, be mistaken , (Herdotus Historicus)

4. the Pass. is also used with genitive rei, to be balked of or foiled in a thing, ἦ καὶ πατήρ τι σφάλλεται βουλευμάτω; (Aeschulus Tragicus); σφάλλεσθαι γάμου (Euripides); τῆς δόξης (Thucydides) (ML)