Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The state of being weak or feeble; infirmity.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state of being weak or feeble; feebleness; lack of strength or vigor.
- noun Specifically In medicine, that condition of the body, or of any of its organs, in which the vital functions are discharged with less than normal vigor, the amount of power and activity displayed being reduced.
- noun In astrology, a weakness of a planet, due to its position: the reverse of a dignity.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The state of being weak; weakness; feebleness; languor.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A state of physical or mental
weakness .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the state of being weak in health or body (especially from old age)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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It should be added, that a temporary quantity of strength or debility may be induced by the defect or excess of stimulus above what is natural; and that in the same fever _debility always exists during the cold fit, though strength does not always exist during the hot fit.
Zoonomia, Vol. I Or, the Laws of Organic Life Erasmus Darwin 1766
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The rehab vibe, however, the smell of generalized debility, is a constant.
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The rehab vibe, however, the smell of generalized debility, is a constant.
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Thus, voluntary starvation that results in a debility is a self-inflicted injury.
Executive Order 12960 On Amending Manual For Courts Martial Clinton, Bill, 1946- 1998
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Thus, voluntary starvation that results in a debility is a self-inflicted injury.
Executive Order Amending Manual For Courts Martial Clinton, Bill, 1946- 1995
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Cactuses is no doubt debility, which is the result of the absence of some necessary condition when the plants are cultivated in houses or windows in this country.
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Masturbation prevents the excitability of the nervous system and sexual organs and causes debility, which is indicated by the premature discharge of semen during sexual intercourse.
The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English or, Medicine Simplified, 54th ed., One Million, Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand Ray Vaughn Pierce 1877
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"There is an extreme debility, that is all," he went on quite cheerfully;
Fenton's Quest 1875
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But if there is a marked increase over the amount usual for the individual, if great weakness and prostration is produced, either at the time or afterward, it may be called profuse, and the cause may be either debility, that is weakness, or plethora, which means fullness.
What a Young Woman Ought to Know Mary Wood-Allen 1874
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The particular causes, to a greater or less extent, perhaps do apply in all cases; but the general one, -- nervous debility, which is the key and conductor of all the particular ones, and without which they would be utterly harmless, -- though it does pertain to you, does not pertain to one in a thousand.
The Writings of Abraham Lincoln — Volume 1: 1832-1843 Abraham Lincoln 1837
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