Definition of "imperfect" []

• Not perfect. (adjective)
• Grammar Of or being the tense of a verb that shows, usually in the past, an action or a condition as incomplete, continuous, or coincident with another action. (adjective)
• Botany Having either stamens or a pistil only. Used of a flower. (adjective)
• Law Not legally enforceable: an imperfect contract. (adjective)
• A piece of merchandise having a minor flaw that does not impair its use, usually sold at a discount. (noun)

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.

• "In place of these programs and the premiums we now contribute to them, and along with catastrophic insurance, the government should create a new form of health savings account — a vehicle that has existed, though in imperfect form, since 2003."
• "I see fleeting planets spin, warp, cut in imperfect time and mothers, heart-twisted all bidding you open your mouth, little love."
• "Catholics that are not reconciled to the Church by means of the sacraments are also in imperfect communion, no?"