defect - Definition | Dictionary definition of defect

Definition of defect

Nouns

an imperfection in a bodily system

"visual defects"

"this device permits detection of defects in the lungs"

Types:: show 31 types...; hide 31 types...; 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; ablepharia
a congenital absence of eyelids (partial or complete); albinism
the congenital absence of pigmentation in the eyes and skin and hair; anencephalia, anencephaly
a defect in brain development resulting in small or missing brain hemispheres; ametria
congenital absence of the uterus; color blindness, color vision deficiency, colour blindness, colour vision deficiency
genetic inability to distinguish differences in hue; epispadias
a congenital abnormality in males in which the urethra is on the upper surface of the penis; clinocephalism, clinocephaly
a congenital defect in which the top of the head is depressed (concave instead of convex); clinodactyly
a congenital defect in which one or more toes or fingers are abnormally positioned; macroglossia
a congenital disorder characterized by an abnormally large tongue; often seen in cases of Down's syndrome; Down syndrome, Down's syndrome, mongolianism, mongolism, trisomy 21
a congenital disorder caused by having an extra 21st chromosome; results in a flat face and short stature and mental retardation; acrocephaly, oxycephaly
a congenital abnormality of the skull; the top of the skull assumes a cone shape; cheiloschisis, cleft lip, harelip
a congenital cleft in the middle of the upper lip; cleft palate
a congenital fissure of the hard palate; amelia
congenital absence of an arm or leg; meromelia
congenital absence of part of an arm or leg; encephalocele
protrusion of brain tissue through a congenital fissure in the skull; meningocele
a congenital anomaly of the central nervous system in which a sac protruding from the brain or the spinal meninges contains cerebrospinal fluid (but no nerve tissue); myelomeningocele
a congenital defect of the central nervous system in which a sac containing part of the spinal cord and its meninges protrude through a gap in the vertebral column; frequently accompanied by hydrocephalus and mental retardation; plagiocephaly
congenital malformation of the skull in which the main axis of the skull is oblique; polysomy
congenital defect of having one or more extra chromosomes in somatic cells; hermaphrodism, hermaphroditism
congenital condition in which external genitalia and internal sex organs have both male and female characteristics; pseudohermaphroditism
congenital condition in which a person has external genitalia of one sex and internal sex organs of the other sex; scaphocephaly
congenital malformation of the skull which is long and narrow; frequently accompanied by mental retardation; congenital heart defect
a birth defect involving the heart; rachischisis, schistorrhachis, spina bifida
a not uncommon congenital defect in which a vertebra is malformed; unless several vertebrae are affected or there is myelomeningocele there are few symptoms; can be diagnosed by amniocentesis; spinocerebellar disorder
any of several congenital disorders marked by degeneration of the cerebellum and spinal cord resulting in spasticity and ataxia; hyperdactyly, polydactyly
birth defect characterized by the presence of more than the normal number of fingers or toes; syndactylism, syndactyly
birth defect in which there is partial or total webbing connecting two or more fingers or toes; ankyloglossia, tongue tie
a congenital anomaly in which the mucous membrane under the tongue is too short limiting the mobility of the tongue

Type of:: imperfection, imperfectness
the state or an instance of being imperfect

a failing or deficiency

"that interpretation is an unfortunate defect of our lack of information"

Synonyms:: shortcoming

Type of:: disadvantage
the quality of having an inferior or less favorable position

an imperfection in an object or machine

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

Synonyms:: fault, flaw

Types:: 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

Type of:: imperfection, imperfectness
the state or an instance of being imperfect

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

Synonyms:: blemish, mar

Types:: show 25 types...; hide 25 types...; birthmark, nevus
a blemish on the skin that is formed before birth; nevus flammeus, port-wine stain
a flat birthmark varying from pink to purple; hemangioma simplex, strawberry, strawberry mark
a soft red birthmark; chatter mark
a mark made by a chattering tool on the surface of a workpiece; check, chip
a mark left after a small piece has been chopped or broken off of something; crack
a blemish resulting from a break without complete separation of the parts; craze
a fine crack in a glaze or other surface; dent, ding, gouge, nick
an impression in a surface (as made by a blow); dig
a small gouge (as in the cover of a book); mole
a small congenital pigmented spot on the skin; mark, scar, scrape, scratch
an indication of damage; burn, burn mark
a place or area that has been burned (especially on a person's body); cigarette burn
a burn mark left by a smoldering cigarette; blot, daub, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, spot
a blemish made by dirt; blotch, splodge, splotch
an irregularly shaped spot; fingermark, fingerprint
a smudge made by a (dirty) finger; inkblot
a blot made with ink; stigma
a skin lesion that is a diagnostic sign of some disease; verruca, wart
(pathology) a firm abnormal elevated blemish on the skin; caused by a virus; common wart
a benign growth (often with a rough surface); condyloma acuminatum, genital wart, venereal wart, verruca acuminata
a small benign wart on or around the genitals and anus; juvenile wart
a small benign growth on the faces of hands of children; plantar wart
a wart occurring on the sole of the foot; milium, whitehead
a small whitish lump in the skin due to a clogged sebaceous gland; blackhead, comedo
a black-tipped plug clogging a pore of the skin