Definition of "malabsorption" [malabsorption]

• Defective or inadequate absorption of nutrients from the intestinal tract. (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.

• "From the caller, Matt understood that little Jessica Katz had a disease called malabsorption syndrome, which is a fatal disease involving the inability to digest and absorb food."
• "Lactose malabsorption occurs when lactose is incompletely broken down in the intestine, which may or may not result in gastrointestinal symptoms after eating dairy products."
• "The GI tract is pretty good at absorbing all the food that travels along it unless there is some kind of malabsorption syndrome going on."