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

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

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

It is a deficiency disease in which red blood cells are sickle-shaped, reducing 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

Rickets, a deficiency disease, is supposed to be produced by the lack of a certain vitamin.

From Time Magazine Archive

Medical men thought it was a deficiency disease, but they had not traced down the deficiency responsible.

From Wind by Fontenay, Charles Louis