Library / English Dictionary

DEFECT

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something (especially on a person's body)

Example:

a facial blemish

Synonyms:

blemish; defect; mar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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

appearance; visual aspect (outward or visible aspect of a person or thing)

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

blackhead; comedo (a black-tipped plug clogging a pore of the skin)

milium; whitehead (a small whitish lump in the skin due to a clogged sebaceous gland)

verruca; wart ((pathology) a firm abnormal elevated blemish on the skin; caused by a virus)

stigma (a skin lesion that is a diagnostic sign of some disease)

blot; daub; slur; smear; smirch; smudge; spot (a blemish made by dirt)

burn; burn mark (a place or area that has been burned (especially on a person's body))

mark; scar; scrape; scratch (an indication of damage)

mole (a small congenital pigmented spot on the skin)

dent; ding; gouge; nick (an impression in a surface (as made by a blow))

crack (a blemish resulting from a break without complete separation of the parts)

check; chip (a mark left after a small piece has been chopped or broken off of something)

chatter mark (a mark made by a chattering tool on the surface of a workpiece)

birthmark; nevus (a blemish on the skin that is formed before birth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A failing or deficiency

Example:

that interpretation is an unfortunate defect of our lack of information

Synonyms:

defect; shortcoming

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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

disadvantage (the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An imperfection in a bodily system

Example:

this device permits detection of defects in the lungs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

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

imperfection; imperfectness (the state or an instance of being imperfect)

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

myelatelia (any developmental defect of the spinal cord)

birth defect; congenital abnormality; congenital anomaly; congenital defect; congenital disorder (a defect that is present at birth)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An imperfection in an object or machine

Example:

if there are any defects you should send it back to the manufacturer

Synonyms:

defect; fault; flaw

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

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

imperfection; imperfectness (the state or an instance of being imperfect)

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

blister (a flaw on a surface resulting when an applied substance does not adhere (as an air bubble in a coat of paint))

bug; glitch (a fault or defect in a computer program, system, or machine)

hole (a fault)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Desert (a cause, a country or an army), often in order to join the opposing cause, country, or army

Example:

If soldiers deserted Hitler's army, they were shot

Synonyms:

defect; desert

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "defect" is one way to...):

flee; fly; take flight (run away quickly)

"Defect" entails doing...:

dissent; protest; resist (express opposition through action or words)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "defect"):

rat (desert one's party or group of friends, for example, for one's personal advantage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

defection (withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility)

defection (the state of having rejected your religious beliefs or your political party or a cause (often in favor of opposing beliefs or causes))

defector (a person who abandons their duty (as on a military post))

Credits

 Context examples: 

A disorder characterized by a defect in mitral valve function or structure.

(Mitral Valve Disorder, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

Further, the defects in MLH1 are a cause of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer.

(MLH1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

But I hope the Dutch, upon this notice, will be curious and able enough to supply my defects.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

In frontotemporal dementia, the abnormal gelling was found to be caused by defects in the chemical modification of FUS.

(Mechanism behind neuron death in motor neurone disease and frontotemporal dementia discovered, University of Cambridge)

A liver disorder caused by primary or secondary defects in the function of the mitochondria in the hepatocytes.

(Mitochondrial Hepatopathy, NCI Thesaurus)

Zika infection during pregnancy can affect the fetus and lead to serious birth defects, especially those involving the developing brain.

(DNA vaccines protect monkeys against Zika virus, NIH)

The findings suggest the possibility of a treatment to reduce the health problems associated with the enzyme defect.

(Alcohol Could be Toxic and Cause DNA Damage for Some People, NIH, US)

Crackower et al determined that ace2 -/- mice suffered significant heart defects at 6 months.

(Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

A rare neural tube defect during pregnancy, resulting in the absence of a large portion of the brain and skull in the fetus.

(Anencephaly, NCI Thesaurus)

APP defects cause Alzheimer's disease and cerebroarterial amyloidosis.

(Amyloid Beta A4 Protein Precursor, NCI Thesaurus)