Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A wasting or decrease in size of a body organ, tissue, or part owing to disease, injury, or lack of use.
- noun A wasting away, deterioration, or diminution.
- intransitive verb To cause to wither or deteriorate; affect with atrophy.
- intransitive verb To waste away; wither or deteriorate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A wasting of the body, or of a part of it, owing to defective nutrition.
- noun In botany and zoology, arrested development of an organ due to stoppage of growth at any stage by the operation of causes either external to or inherent in the organism.
- To waste away.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To cause to waste away or become abortive; to starve or weaken.
- noun A wasting away from lack of nourishment; diminution in bulk or slow emaciation of the body or of any part.
- intransitive verb To waste away; to dwindle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun pathology A
reduction in thefunctionality of anorgan caused bydisease ,injury orlack ofuse . - verb To
wither orwaste away .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse
- noun any weakening or degeneration (especially through lack of use)
- verb undergo atrophy
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word atrophy.
Examples
-
Infantile paralysis, which often appears suddenly, muscular atrophy, which develops slowly, _progressive and chronic atrophy_ of the muscles, are also forms of muscular disease, combined with destruction of the accompanying nerve tissue.
Valere Aude Dare to Be Healthy, Or, The Light of Physical Regeneration Louis Dechmann
-
His mother explained that his disease, spinal muscular atrophy, is gradually deteriorating his neuromuscular system so that every few months, he loses more of his ability to move.
-
Our country languishes today in atrophy from pay to play politics.
John Wellington Ennis: How Rahm Bombed John Wellington Ennis 2010
-
Our country languishes today in atrophy from pay to play politics.
John Wellington Ennis: How Rahm Bombed John Wellington Ennis 2010
-
Our country languishes today in atrophy from pay to play politics.
John Wellington Ennis: How Rahm Bombed John Wellington Ennis 2010
-
Our country languishes today in atrophy from pay to play politics.
John Wellington Ennis: How Rahm Bombed John Wellington Ennis 2010
-
Our country languishes today in atrophy from pay to play politics.
John Wellington Ennis: How Rahm Bombed John Wellington Ennis 2010
-
It confirms earlier research showing a link between brain atrophy and low levels of B12.
-
Brain atrophy in elderly leads to unintended racism, depression and problem gambling
September 22nd, 2007 2007
-
Mark Siegel of the blog 19th Floor, who has spinal muscular atrophy, is the subject of a feature article in Law & Politics, a legal magazine out of Minnesota.
Boing Boing: February 8, 2004 - February 14, 2004 Archives 2004
gerwitz commented on the word atrophy
I like atrophy salad.
July 16, 2007
slumry commented on the word atrophy
Is that like lettuce alone?
July 16, 2007