deform
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
to mar the natural form or shape of; put out of shape; disfigure.
In cases where the drug was taken during pregnancy, its effects deformed the infants.
- Synonyms:
- misshape
-
to make ugly, ungraceful, or displeasing; mar the beauty of; spoil.
The trees had been completely deformed by the force of the wind.
- Synonyms:
- ruin
-
to change the form of; transform.
-
Geology, Mechanics. to subject to deformation.
The metal was deformed under stress.
verb (used without object)
adjective
verb
-
to make or become misshapen or distorted
-
(tr) to mar the beauty of; disfigure
-
(tr) to subject or be subjected to a stress that causes a change of dimensions
Related Words
See mar.
Other Word Forms
- deformability noun
- deformable adjective
- deformative adjective
- deformer noun
- undeformable adjective
Etymology
Origin of deform1
1350–1400; Middle English deformen, from Latin dēfōrmāre, equivalent to dē- de- + fōrmāre “to shape, form” ( form )
Origin of deform1
1350–1400; Middle English defo ( u ) rme < Latin dēformis, equivalent to dē- de- + -formis -form
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.
By measuring this delay, scientists could estimate how much energy Titan absorbs as it deforms, offering insight into how thick or viscous its interior must be.
From Science Daily
Because touchdown airbursts often fail to deform the landscape in lasting ways, confirming their occurrence is much more difficult.
From Science Daily
There was the Picasso of late-19th-century realism; the Picasso of angular, broken-down Cubist shapes; the Picasso of playfully deformed portraits.
The medical examiner retrieved a deformed metal projectile.
"The first thing we did was to deform a piece of metal," Freitas explains.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
