eating disorder

American  

noun

• eating disorders
  plural

1. any of various disorders, as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, characterized by severe disturbances in eating habits.

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eating disorder Scientific  

/ ē′tĭng /

1. Any of several patterns of severely disturbed eating behavior, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia, seen mainly in female teenagers and young women.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• eating disorders
  plural

Etymology

Origin of eating disorder

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

eating disorder

Few people then, not even Carpenter’s closest confidantes, knew how to talk about what was actually an eating disorder, much less manage it.

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026

Anorexia kills a higher percentage of patients than any other eating disorder, data shows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Heartstopper: 'How Netflix show's eating disorder story helps me'

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

She also testified that her older sister suffered from an eating disorder — details the defense sought to portray as the source of her body dysmorphia.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026

At the age of eleven, Khaleh Mandana began to display signs of an eating disorder, and doctors advised that she was better off living with her mother.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi