faillie gagner

[vayatalaya]

Hello, I'm translating the song "Au Caffé du Canal" of "Les Ogres de Barback". And I have any clue of what the following sentence could mean: Ils ont bien faillie gagner la bataille (very nearly won the battle and the war) This is the translation that the very web offers into english.

Here's a little of context:
Tes seins poussaient les plis de ton corsage bleu
Ils ont bien faillie gagner la bataille
J’aime le ciel parce qu’il est dans tes yeux

Taken from http://lyricstranslate.com/en/au-cafe-du-canal-canal-side-cafe.html#ixzz3ZqveCp34

Accordingly WRD "faillie" means "bankrupt", and this is my main confusion, I don't see how it could fix in the sentence, so I guess it has to mean another thing. And the web's translation seems to me very far, right?

So... what do you think that could be the exact meaning of the sentence?
Or... how would you translate it?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mehoul]

Il a failli + verbe à l'infinitif => he was about to + verb

 

[Hildy1]

I would guess it means that her breasts almost pushed their way out of her blouse. But that's just a guess.
It should be "ils ont bien failli gagner la bataille".

 

[ManningAnne]

Yes, your translation is correct.

"J'ai failli...." is from the verb faillir. It means I almost did, but then didn't either because I didn't succeed in my endeavor, or because I simply changed my mind.

So, ils ont failli gagner is perfectly translated with "they nearly won"

I think that in your original text, there is a typo - an extra e at the end of failli

 

[vayatalaya]

I think that in your original text, there is a typo - an extra e at the end of failli

Thanks everyone, I'm not very good at french so the typos are very tricky for me, I can't know whether it is or not a typo still while reading, but yeah, now I get it.

I would guess it means that her breasts almost pushed their way out of her blouse

Yeah, it completely fits it.

 

[BUCK52]

They have nearly failed to win the battle /here, one can say "the author have nearly been vanquished by the temptation /or by his senses...

 

[Hildy1]

They almost / nearly won the battle, as ManningAnne says above.
They came very close to winning the battle.