birth defect

noun

: a physical or biochemical defect that is present at birth and may be inherited or environmentally induced

Examples of birth defect in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But because finasteride can cause birth defects, many doctors won’t prescribe it to women of childbearing age. —Marci Robin, Allure, 17 Oct. 2025

But to isolate gold, galamsey workers typically use poisonous mercury, which pollutes drinking water and farmland and has been linked to serious illness and birth defects. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 15 Oct. 2025

His owner, Hannah Gleason from Oklahoma, told Newsweek that the merle gene isn’t a coloring gene rather than a gene that bleaches the fur and causes lack of pigmentation which can lead to birth defects, blindness, deafness, or sometimes all three. —Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025

Babies born with congenital rubella syndrome can have serious birth defects including heart, liver and spleen damage, loss of hearing and eyesight and lifelong intellectual disability. —Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1864, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

birth defect

noun

: a serious defect (as in physical or mental function) that is present at birth and is inherited or caused by something that happens or exists in the environment

Medical Definition

birth defect

noun

: a physical or biochemical defect (as cleft palate, phenylketonuria, or Down syndrome) that is present at birth and may be inherited or environmentally induced