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deafness

Scientific  
/ dĕfnĭs /
  1. The lack or severe impairment of the ability to hear. Deafness is usually genetic or congenital as a result of prenatal viral infection, birth trauma, or other causes. Acquired deafness is caused mostly by drug toxicity, trauma, and certain diseases. Cochlear implants are used to treat some forms of deafness.


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"They had no idea about deafness. They had no real incentive to try and sort out this problem. They just sort of froze."

From BBC

Such policies and behavior, he explained, is much worse than mere “tone deafness. It is a mockery of the people who are struggling to make ends meet and live paycheck to paycheck.”

From Salon

"How many people carry variants in this gene and is there a susceptibility to deafness or age-dependent hearing loss?" she said.

From Science Daily

She said they had struggled to get a diagnosis for her 17 and 19- year-olds, because a lot of the indicators of autism could be covered up by deafness.

From BBC

Thousands of British military personnel have started legal action after being given ear protection they say was faulty and led to life-changing injuries such as tinnitus and deafness.

From BBC