WASTING AWAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wasting away mean? 

• WASTING AWAY (noun)
  The noun WASTING AWAY has 1 sense:

1. a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse

  Familiarity information: WASTING AWAY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WASTING AWAY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

atrophy; wasting; wasting away

Hypernyms ("wasting away" is a kind of...):

symptom ((medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "wasting away"):

amyotrophia; amyotrophy (progressive wasting of muscle tissues)

tabes (wasting of the body during a chronic disease)

kraurosis (atrophy and shriveling of the skin or mucous membrane)

 Context examples 

Problems with the cerebellum include: • Cancer • Genetic disorders • Ataxias - failure of muscle control in the arms and legs that result in movement disorders • Degeneration - disorders caused by brain cells decreasing in size or wasting away

(Cerebellar Disorders, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

You are wasting away.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)