Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-FECT', n. [L. defectus; It. difetto; Sp. defetto; from L. deficio, to fail; de and facio, to make or do.]

1. Want or absence of something necessary or useful toward perfection; fault; imperfection. We say, there are numerous defects in the plan, or in the work, or in the execution. Errors have been corrected, and defects supplied. – Davies.
2. Failing; fault; mistake; imperfection in moral conduct, or in judgment. A deep conviction of the defects of our lives tends to make us humble. Trust not yourself; but, your defects to know, / Make use of every friend and every foe. – Pope.
3. Any want, or imperfection, in natural objects; the absence of anything necessary to perfection; any thing unnatural or misplaced; blemish; deformity. We speak of a defect in the organs of seeing or hearing, or in a limb; a defect in timber; a defect in an instrument, &c.