From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Defect \De*fect"\, v. t.
To injure; to damage. "None can my life defect." [R.]
--Troubles of Q. Elizabeth (1639).
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Defect \De*fect"\, n. [L. defectus, fr. deficere, defectum, to
desert, fail, be wanting; de- + facere to make, do. See
Fact, Feat, and cf. Deficit.]
1. Want or absence of something necessary for completeness or
perfection; deficiency; -- opposed to superfluity.
[1913 Webster]
Errors have been corrected, and defects supplied.
--Davies.
[1913 Webster]
2. Failing; fault; imperfection, whether physical or moral;
blemish; as, a defect in the ear or eye; a defect in
timber or iron; a defect of memory or judgment.
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Trust not yourself; but, your defects to know,
Make use of every friend -- and every foe. --Pope.
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Among boys little tenderness is shown to personal
defects. --Macaulay.
Syn: Deficiency; imperfection; blemish. See Fault.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Defect \De*fect"\, v. i.
To fail; to become deficient. [Obs.] "Defected honor."
--Warner.
[1913 Webster]
2. to abandon one country or faction, and join another.
[PJC]