deficiency

«deficiency» in Mova's school dictionary: a lack of something that is needed, not having enough of it — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a deficiency, deficiencies)

meaning for a pupil

1) A deficiency is a lack of something that is needed, not having enough of it. tree →

2) A deficiency is a weakness or fault in something. tree →

sense in the lessons

In health and science lessons a vitamin deficiency means not getting enough of a vitamin, which can make you ill: too little vitamin C can cause scurvy. In formal reports «deficiencies in the work» means things that are missing or wrong. In maths, a deficiency is a shortfall: how much less than needed.

examples

• Lack of sunlight can cause vitamin D deficiency. tree →
• Sailors once had scurvy from a vitamin C deficiency. tree →
• Iron deficiency can make you tired. tree →
• (formal) The report pointed out deficiencies in the plan. tree →
• There is a deficiency of 20 chairs for the concert. tree →
• Eating many kinds of food helps prevent deficiencies. tree →
• Poor Jason was greatly abashed, and made up his mind that the people of Iolchos were exceedingly ill-bred, to take such public notice of an accidental deficiency in his dress. tree →

note

Plural: deficiencies (y → ies). Adjective: deficient. In maths: deficiency = needed − what you have; if 100 are needed and 80 are there, the deficiency is 20.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «deficiency» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.