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Imperfect   /ɪmpˈərfɪkt/   Listen
adjective
Imperfect  adj.  
1.
Not perfect; not complete in all its parts; wanting a part; deective; deficient. "Something he left imperfect in the state." "Why, then, your other senses grow imperfect."
2.
Wanting in some elementary organ that is essential to successful or normal activity. "He... stammered like a child, or an amazed, imperfect person."
3.
Not fulfilling its design; not realizing an ideal; not conformed to a standard or rule; not satisfying the taste or conscience; esthetically or morally defective. "Nothing imperfect or deficient left Of all that he created." "Then say not man's imperfect, Heaven in fault; Say rather, man's as perfect as he ought."
Imperfect arch, an arch of less than a semicircle; a skew arch.
Imperfect cadence (Mus.), one not ending with the tonic, but with the dominant or some other chord; one not giving complete rest; a half close.
Imperfect consonances (Mus.), chords like the third and sixth, whose ratios are less simple than those of the fifth and forth.
Imperfect flower (Bot.), a flower wanting either stamens or pistils.
Imperfect interval (Mus.), one a semitone less than perfect; as, an imperfect fifth.
Imperfect number (Math.), a number either greater or less than the sum of its several divisors; in the former case, it is called also a defective number; in the latter, an abundant number.
Imperfect obligations (Law), obligations as of charity or gratitude, which cannot be enforced by law.
Imperfect power (Math.), a number which can not be produced by taking any whole number or vulgar fraction, as a factor, the number of times indicated by the power; thus, 9 is a perfect square, but an imperfect cube.
Imperfect tense (Gram.), a tense expressing past time and incomplete action.



noun
Imperfect  n.  (Gram.) The imperfect tense; or the form of a verb denoting the imperfect tense.



verb
Imperfect  v. t.  To make imperfect. (Obs.)






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Imperfect" Quotes from Famous Books



... poems may be divided into two classes,—the purely imaginative, and those which sprang from the emotions of his heart. Among the former may be classed the "Witch of Atlas", "Adonais", and his latest composition, left imperfect, the "Triumph of Life". In the first of these particularly he gave the reins to his fancy, and luxuriated in every idea as it rose; in all there is that sense of mystery which formed an essential portion of his ...
— Notes to the Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley • Mary W. Shelley

... now approached, in which the scene sir William Twyford had with so much pains prepared, was to be acted. An imperfect rumour had spread that something extraordinary was to pass in the public room. Miss Prim was of opinion that a duel would be fought. "I shall be frightened out of my wits," said she. "But I must go, for one loves any thing new, and I believe ...
— Damon and Delia - A Tale • William Godwin

... or too little protein is often harmful and produces serious results. As mentioned previously, too much protein may cause intestinal disturbances, and an overtaxing of the excretory organs. On the other hand, the use of too little protein may produce imperfect nourishment. Concerning the quantity of protein used in diet, there has been much difference of opinion. Atwater, an American authority, thought that there should be a generous supply, i.e. a surplus of protein, to ...
— School and Home Cooking • Carlotta C. Greer

... myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in steering betwixt the extremes of doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not inconsistent, and a short yet not imperfect ...
— Essay on Man - Moral Essays and Satires • Alexander Pope

... some reason for believing that before long we may see another outburst of the same star. In the years 945, 1264, and 1572, brilliant stars appeared in the region of the heavens between Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Sir J. Herschel remarks, that, 'from the imperfect account we have of the places of the two earlier, as compared with that of the last, which was well determined, as well as from the tolerably near coincidence of the intervals of their appearance, we may suspect them, with ...
— Myths and Marvels of Astronomy • Richard A. Proctor


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