DEFORM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does deform mean? 

• DEFORM (verb)
  The verb DEFORM has 6 senses:

1. make formless

2. twist and press out of shape

3. cause (a plastic object) to assume a crooked or angular form

4. become misshapen

5. alter the shape of (something) by stress

6. assume a different shape or form

  Familiarity information: DEFORM used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEFORM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they deform    ... he / she / it deforms   
Past simple: deformed   
Past participle: deformed   
-ing form: deforming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make formless

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

the heat deformed the plastic sculpture

Hypernyms (to "deform" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

deformation (alteration in the shape or dimensions of an object as a result of the application of stress to it)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Twist and press out of shape

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

contort; deform; distort; wring

Hypernyms (to "deform" is one way to...):

distort; twine; twist (form into a spiral shape)

Verb group:

wrench; wring (twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish)

wring (twist, squeeze, or compress in order to extract liquid)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "deform"):

morph (change shape as via computer animation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

deformation (the act of twisting or deforming the shape of something (e.g., yourself))

deformation (alteration in the shape or dimensions of an object as a result of the application of stress to it)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause (a plastic object) to assume a crooked or angular form

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

bend; deform; flex; turn; twist

Context example:

the strong man could turn an iron bar

Hypernyms (to "deform" is one way to...):

change form; change shape; deform (assume a different shape or form)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "deform"):

dent; indent (make a depression into)

incurvate (cause to curve inward)

gnarl (twist into a state of deformity)

crank (bend into the shape of a crank)

convolute; convolve (curl, wind, or twist together)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They deform the glass tubes

Derivation:

deformation (the act of twisting or deforming the shape of something (e.g., yourself))

deformation (alteration in the shape or dimensions of an object as a result of the application of stress to it)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become misshapen

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The sidewalk deformed during the earthquake

Hypernyms (to "deform" is one way to...):

change form; change shape; deform (assume a different shape or form)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

deformation (alteration in the shape or dimensions of an object as a result of the application of stress to it)

deformation (a change for the worse)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Alter the shape of (something) by stress

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

deform; distort; strain

Context example:

His body was deformed by leprosy

Hypernyms (to "deform" is one way to...):

form; shape (give shape or form to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "deform"):

jaundice (distort adversely)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

deformation (alteration in the shape or dimensions of an object as a result of the application of stress to it)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Assume a different shape or form

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

change form; change shape; deform

Hypernyms (to "deform" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "deform"):

grain; granulate (become granular)

bug out; bulge; bulge out; come out; pop; pop out; protrude; start (bulge outward)

extend; stretch; stretch out; unfold (extend or stretch out to a greater or the full length)

bend; flex (form a curve)

bend; deform; flex; turn; twist (cause (a plastic object) to assume a crooked or angular form)

distort; twine; twist (form into a spiral shape)

batter; dinge (make a dent or impression in)

deform (become misshapen)

draw (contract)

flatten; flatten out (become flat or flatter)

furl; roll up (form into a cylinder by rolling)

point; sharpen; taper (give a point to)

bulge; pouch; protrude (swell or protrude outwards)

roll (take the shape of a roll or cylinder)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

deformation (alteration in the shape or dimensions of an object as a result of the application of stress to it)

 Context examples 

A condition in children in which bones become soft and deformed because they don't have enough calcium and phosphorus.

(Childhood Rickets, NCI Dictionary)

The most common form is talipes equinovarus, where the deformed foot is turned downward and inward sharply.

(Clubfoot, NCI Thesaurus)

Testing the device's ability to recover its size and shape after being deformed during the test.

(Device Elasticity Testing Evaluation Method, Food and Drug Administration)

Patients may have deformed thumbs and other physical problems.

(Blackfan–Diamond anemia, NCI Dictionary)

A condition in adults in which bones become soft and deformed because they don’t have enough calcium and phosphorus.

(Adult rickets, NCI Dictionary)

And then I strangled a new-born agony—a deformed thing which I could not persuade myself to own and rear—and ran on.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The researchers determined that cells deform significantly as they cross the narrow splenic slit.

(How the spleen keeps blood healthy, NIH)

Testing the device's ability to resist forces that attempt to break or deform the device.

(Device Strength Testing Evaluation Method, Food and Drug Administration)

Agents that are capable of inserting themselves between the successive bases in DNA, thus kinking, uncoiling or otherwise deforming it and therefore preventing its proper functioning.

(DNA Intercalating Agent, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)