deformation

[ dee-fawr-mey-shuhn, def-er- ]

noun

1. the act of deforming; deform; distortion; disfigurement.
2. the result of deforming; deform; change of form, especially for the worse.
3. an altered form.
4. Geology, Mechanics. a change in the shape or dimensions of a body, resulting from stress; strain.

Other Words From

• defor·mation·al adjective
• nonde·for·mation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of deformation¹

1400–50; late Middle English deformacioun < Latin dēfōrmātiōn- (stem of dēfōrmātiō ), equivalent to dēfōrmāt ( us ) (past participle of dēfōrmāre; deform ¹ ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

A slow, surreal tide of deformation has appeared throughout the city.

From The Daily Beast

The title—The Great Deformation—and tale of the decline you describe has an Old Testament-prophet quality to it.

From The Daily Beast

Its structures embrace nearly every known type of deformation.

From Project Gutenberg

After the initial location of the folds along these lines, compression and deformation continued.

From Project Gutenberg

Therefore the presence of flat heads (artificial deformation being excluded) in equatorial Venezuela is not surprising.

From Project Gutenberg

The unital deformation produced by the stress is called the strain, for example, compression per unit of volume.

From Project Gutenberg

Now when we say that the Euclidean motions are the true motions without deformation, what do we mean?

From Project Gutenberg

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