Library / English Dictionary

DEAFNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Partial or complete loss of hearing

Synonyms:

deafness; hearing loss

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("deafness" is a kind of...):

hearing disorder; hearing impairment (impairment of the sense of hearing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deafness"):

tin ear; tone deafness (an inability to distinguish differences in pitch)

deaf-muteness; deaf-mutism (congenital deafness that results in inability to speak)

Derivation:

deaf (lacking or deprived of the sense of hearing wholly or in part)

Credits

 Context examples: 

My mother's deafness is very trifling you see—just nothing at all.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Congenital deafness caused by mutations in the gene GJB2 (deafness gene).

(Connexin 26 Gene Anomaly, NCI Thesaurus)

Mutation of the gene is associated with deafness autosomal recessive type 12 and Usher syndrome types 1D, 3 and 1 D/F.

(CDH23 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Bardet-Biedl and Joubert syndromes are ciliopathies with many symptoms that may include deafness, kidney disease, and retina degeneration.

(Protein critical to cilia development, NIH)

Mutation of the gene is associated with nephropathy with pretibial epidermolysis bullosa and deafness.

(CD151 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

As for its inventor, beyond an increasing deafness and the movement of the lips growing fainter and fainter, there had been little change in his condition for a week.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

They include cardiac and ocular lesions, deafness, microcephaly, mental retardation, and generalized growth retardation.

(Congenital Rubella, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, one out of every thousand children who contract measles develop encephalitis, which can cause deafness or brain damage.

(Samoan government temporarily shuts down for nationwide measles vaccination drive, Wikinews)

Signs and symptoms include retinitis pigmentosa which may lead to blindness, hearing problems and deafness, hypotonia, ataxia, nystagmus, facial deformities, and mental and growth retardation.

(Infantile Refsum Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

A genetic condition characterized by short stature, premature aging, sensitivity to light, and possibly deafness and mental retardation.

(Cockayne syndrome, NCI Dictionary)