deficiency disease

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. any illness associated with an insufficient supply of one or more essential dietary constituents.

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deficiency disease British  

noun

1. med any condition, such as pellagra, beriberi, or scurvy, produced by a lack of vitamins or other essential substances Compare avitaminosis

2. botany any disease caused by lack of essential minerals

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Etymology

Origin of deficiency disease

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

deficiency disease

It is a deficiency disease in which red blood cells are sickle-shaped, reducing oxygen perfusion into the blood.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

It is a deficiency disease in which red blood cells are sickle-shaped, increasing oxygen perfusion into the blood.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

David Salamone was a longtime patient at the National Institutes of Health, where he became the subject of a study on immune deficiency disease.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 15, 2018

Their members are frequent victims of that painful deficiency disease, pellagra, with its attendant diarrhea, dementia, dermatitis.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Ragnarok herbs prevented any recurrence of the fatal deficiency disease but they provided virtually no nourishment to help fight the heat and gravity.

From Space Prison by Godwin, Tom