n. [ L. defectus, fr. deficere, defectum, to desert, fail, be wanting; de- + facere to make, do. See Fact, Feat, and cf. Deficit. ] 1. Want or absence of something necessary for completeness or perfection; deficiency; -- opposed to superfluity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Errors have been corrected, and defects supplied. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Failing; fault; imperfection, whether physical or moral; blemish; as, a defect in the ear or eye; a defect in timber or iron; a defect of memory or judgment. [ 1913 Webster ]

Trust not yourself; but, your defects to know,
Make use of every friend -- and every foe. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Among boys little tenderness is shown to personal defects. Macaulay.

Syn. -- Deficiency; imperfection; blemish. See Fault. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To fail; to become deficient. [ Obs. ] “Defected honor.” Warner. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. to abandon one country or faction, and join another. [ PJC ]

v. t. To injure; to damage. “None can my life defect.” [ R. ] Troubles of Q. Elizabeth (1639). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Deficiency; imperfection. [ R. ] Ld. Digby. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Liable to defect; imperfect. [ R. ] “A defectible understanding.” Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. defectio: cf. F. défection. See Defect. ] Act of abandoning a person or cause to which one is bound by allegiance or duty, or to which one has attached himself; desertion; failure in duty; a falling away; apostasy; backsliding. “Defection and falling away from God.” Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

The general defection of the whole realm. Sir J. Davies. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who advocates or encourages defection. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having defects; imperfect. [ Obs. ] “Some one defectious piece.” Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. defectivus: cf. F. défectif. See Defect. ] 1. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gram.) Lacking some of the usual forms of declension or conjugation; as, a defective noun or verb. -- De*fect"ive*ly, adv. -- De*fect"ive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Anything that is defective or lacking in some respect. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. (Med.) One who is lacking physically or mentally.

☞ Under the term defectives are included deaf-mutes, the blind, the feeble-minded, the insane, and sometimes, esp. in criminology, criminals and paupers. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]