DEFECTIVE • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Defective

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/dɪfˈɛktɪv/ Listen

adjective

Defective adj.

Wanting in something; incomplete; lacking a part; deficient; imperfect; faulty; applied either to natural or moral qualities; as, a defective limb; defective timber; a defective copy or account; a defective character; defective rules.

(Gram.) Lacking some of the usual forms of declension or conjugation; as, a defective noun or verb.

noun

Defective n.

Anything that is defective or lacking in some respect.

(Med.) One who is lacking physically or mentally. Note: Under the term defectives are included deaf-mutes, the blind, the feeble-minded, the insane, and sometimes, esp. in criminology, criminals and paupers.

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Etymology of 'Defective'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Defective" Quotes from Famous Books

... in the said Universite and desiring the ease and tranquillite of the said peuple in the same, wol and charge you straitly that ye see and ordeyne by youre discretione that al such vices and misgovernaunce be left and all such as may be founde defective in that behalve be sharply punished in example of all other; and more over We charge you oure Chancellor, to whom the governance and keeping of our paix within oure said Universite by virtu of our privilege roial is committed that in eschewing of all inconvenience, ye see and ordeyne that ...

— The Customs of Old England • F. J. Snell

... said to Aubrey, that "Bacon was no great philosopher; he writes philosophy like a lord chancellor." It has been suggested to me that Bacon's philosophical writings have been much overrated.—His experimental philosophy from the era in which they were produced must be necessarily defective: the time he gave to them could only have been had at spare hours; but like the great prophet on the mount, Bacon was doomed to view the land afar, which ...

— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 (of 3) • Isaac D'Israeli

... love of beauty. This is, I think, untrue, and unjust to our present civilization, unlovely as it undoubtedly is in many ways. It is curious that modern critics of the Greeks have not called attention to the aesthetic obtuseness which showed itself in the defective reaction of the ancients against cruelty. It was not that they excluded beautiful actions from the sphere of aesthetics; they never thought of separating the beautiful from the good in this way. But they were not disgusted at the torture of slaves, the exposure of new-born children, or the ...

— The Legacy of Greece • Various

... improvement, as has President Johnson's Executive Order 11288, which directed that Federal facilities set the best example in the matter of pollution control. But the order has obviously not been obeyed with uniform enthusiasm in all quarters, defective philosophy and short waste-disposal budgets being no exclusive property of local governments. Sometimes this is because limited funds force agencies to put waste treatment far down on their list for spending, and little is left over for it. Whatever the reason in individual cases, a ...

— The Nation's River - The Department of the Interior Official Report on the Potomac • United States Department of the Interior

... thing she remembered was, dropping, as she thought, into a hole, and feeling as if she were going to sleep in bed, yet knowing it was death; and thinking how much sweeter it was than sleep. Hugh's account was very strange and defective, but he was never able to add anything to it. He said that, when he rushed out into the dark, the storm seized him like a fury, beating him about the head and face with icy wings, till he was almost stunned. ...

— David Elginbrod • George MacDonald

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