Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Congenital absence of most of the brain and spinal cord.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as anencephalia.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A lethal birth defect in which most of the brain and parts of the skull are missing; absence of the encephalon.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a defect in brain development resulting in small or missing brain hemispheres

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From the Latin anencephalia.

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Examples

  • He was born with a birth defect called anencephaly.

    Who Said It Would Be Easy Cheryl Faye 2011

  • He was born with a birth defect called anencephaly.

    Who Said It Would Be Easy Cheryl Faye 2011

  • He was born with a birth defect called anencephaly.

    Who Said It Would Be Easy Cheryl Faye 2011

  • He was born with a birth defect called anencephaly.

    Who Said It Would Be Easy Cheryl Faye 2011

  • Something known as anencephaly is something where the brain just simply never develops.

    CNN Transcript Jun 5, 2009 2009

  • When you have organ failure or lack of organ development that is so catastrophic that the child could not be born and live a normal life or live at all, something known as anencephaly, is something where the brain just simply never develops.

    CNN Transcript Jun 5, 2009 2009

  • Many are paralyzed or permanently impaired by spina bifida; some, with a condition called anencephaly literally, “no brain”, survive in a vegetative state.

    NYT: Folic Acid in Flour GreenFertility 2007

  • It's called anencephaly; it may be the result of B-vitamin deficiency.

    A reincarnation of Vishnu... Ann Althouse 2007

  • Many are paralyzed or permanently impaired by spina bifida; some, with a condition called anencephaly literally, “no brain”, survive in a vegetative state.

    Archive 2007-12-01 GreenFertility 2007

  • In particular, women with a diet closely matched to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid were half as likely to have a baby missing part of its brain and skull -- a birth defect called anencephaly -- than women whose diet was farthest from those guidelines.

    Reuters: Press Release 2011

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