failed by a narrow margin?

[Maggie]

Hi,guys

He was not happy that he failed ____a narrow margin to win the election.
(A)by (B)at (C)for (D)about
The answer is (A).

Which one would you choose?

Actually,I haven't seen this idiom before. I can't figure out what should I choose. Would you mind giving some examples about 'fail by'? And could you tell me how to find out some explanations about idoms like this? Thanks in advance.

Maggie^^
_________________
In my view,the more mistakes someone else corrects me,the more I could learn.
And welcome to my blog: http://0rz.tw/793HL

[Mister Micawber]

.
'Fail by' is not an idiom, but a use of the preposition 'by' + amount/magnitude/etc' (= to the extent of):

PREPOSITION: (definition #6b) To the extent of: 'shorter by two inches'.

He failed the exam by 20 points.
He won the race by two laps.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber

[Maggie]

Hi,Mister Micawber

First of all,thanks for your quick response. I definitely have learned it you said. But here I have more two questions.

1. PREPOSITION: (definition #6b)
What do you mean here? Are you telling me that I could find out more in this forum? If yes,would you please give me the link ?

2.To the extent of: 'shorter by two inches'.
What do you mean here? Is it just an example? I don't make sense what does 'shorter by tow inches' mean?

3. How come I couldn't find out 'failed by' from the search engine,google? Few people speak English in this way?

Thanks for any helps.

Talk with you soon.

Maggie^^
_________________
In my view,the more mistakes someone else corrects me,the more I could learn.
And welcome to my blog: http://0rz.tw/793HL

[Yankee]

Hi Maggie

Since Mr M doesn't seem to be online at the moment, I'll try to help:

MM was referring to definition 6b for the word 'by' in the American Heritage Dictionary.
Click on this link: http://www.bartleby.com/61/93/B0589300.html

Here is another definition (from the Cambridge Dictionary):
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=10617&dict=CALD

"Shorter by two inches" means basically the same thing as "two inches shorter than".
"He won the race by two laps" means basically the same thing as "The amount/extent of his win was two laps" or "He was two laps faster than the person who placed second in the race."

[Mister Micawber]

.
I get 975,000 English pages for "failed by" from Ms Google. Some examples:

Amendment on Flag Burning Fails by One Vote in Senate - New York Times
The bid to extend federal jobless benefits for an extra 13 weeks failed by 59-40, one short of the 60 votes needed
Failed by 20 pnts!
BRIDGE; It Did Matter, Matter, Matter: The Contract Failed by Five

Because this is not an idiom, most of the 975,000 hits are for uses of a simple agent:

Milwaukee's taxpayers are failed by their own lawmakers
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber