Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The condition of being infirm, often as associated with old age; weakness or frailty.
- noun A bodily ailment or weakness.
- noun Weakness of resolution or character.
- noun A moral failing or defect in character.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state of being infirm; weakness; especially, an unsound or unhealthy state of the body; a malady: as, the infirmities of age.
- noun A weakness; failing; fault; foible.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The state of being infirm; feebleness; an imperfection or weakness; esp., an unsound, unhealthy, or debilitated state; a disease; a malady.
- noun A personal frailty or failing; foible; eccentricity; a weakness or defect.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
feebleness ,frailty orailment , especially due to old age. - noun a moral weakness or defect
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
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Examples
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Some old people have lost all their teeth, and others have but few left; and this infirmity is the more considerable because the meat, not being well chewed, for want of teeth, is not well digested, which has as much influence as any thing upon the other decays of age.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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And, yes, with age for some people comes infirmity, but that infirmity is based on individual factors and not on a physical absolute that, at a “pre-set” age, one is automatically old and unable to function.
June « 2008 « L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website 2008
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And, yes, with age for some people comes infirmity, but that infirmity is based on individual factors and not on a physical absolute that, at a “pre-set” age, one is automatically old and unable to function.
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He who counts himself perfect, must deceive himself by calling sin infirmity (1Jo 1: 8); at the same time, each must aim at perfection, to be a Christian at all
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"Thou takest all advantages against me; old scores are called over, every infirmity is animadverted upon, and no sooner is a false step taken than I am beaten for it."
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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If the Lord now calls me to a period of weakness, I know well that his power can be made perfect in infirmity.
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I was no longer morbid; I would not allow myself to feel that my infirmity was a bar to the enjoyment of life; yet, all the same, I dreaded society and shrank from the fresh conviction of inferiority I was certain to experience in going out with Harry, who was strongest where I was so weak.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. October, 1878. Various
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My infirmity was the principal cause which prevented me from mixing in polite companies, and enjoying the conversation of the fair.
The Confessions of J J Rousseau Rousseau, Jean Jacques 1896
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We can put our fingers on the two great evils of life as it now is: the first is poverty; and the second is infirmity, which is the accompaniment of increasing years.
The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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We can put our fingers on the two great evils of life as it now is: the first is poverty; and the second is infirmity, which is the accompaniment of increasing years.
As We Go Charles Dudley Warner 1864
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