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Pathology A wasting or decrease in size of a body organ, tissue, or part owing to disease, injury, or lack of use: muscular atrophy of a person affected with paralysis.
(noun)
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A wasting away, deterioration, or diminution: intellectual atrophy.
(noun)
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To cause to wither or deteriorate; affect with atrophy.
(verb-transitive)
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To waste away; wither or deteriorate.
(verb-intransitive)
American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.