defect

Noun

defect (plural defects)

1. A fault or malfunction.
   • a defect in the ear or eye; a defect in timber or iron; a defect of memory or judgment
   • Among boys little tenderness is shown to personal defects.1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green...
2. The quantity or amount by which anything falls short.
   • and the indefatigable application with which they have supplied the defects of early culture.1824, Lydia Sigourney, Sketch of Connecticut
3. A part by which a figure or quantity is wanting or deficient.

Verb

IPA/dɪˈfɛkt/

defect (third-person singular simple present defects, present participle defecting, simple past and past participle defected)

1. (intransitive) To abandon or turn against; to cease or change one's loyalty, especially from a military organisation or political party.
   • Capitalizing on the restive mood, Mr. Farage, the U.K. Independence Party leader, took out an advertisement in The Daily Telegraph this week inviting unhappy Tories to defect. In it Mr. Farage sniped that the Cameron government — made up disproportionately of career politicians who graduated from...2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, “British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party”, in New York Times, retrieved 29 May 2013
2. To desert one's army, to flee from combat.
3. To join the enemy army.
4. To flee one's country and seek asylum.
   • Passing through Thailand, she submitted a handwritten statement agreeing to defect, a requirement for North Korean refugees to be allowed to enter the South.2015 August 15, Choe Sang-Hun, “A North Korean Defector’s Regret”, in The New York Times, retrieved 20 Sep 2015