degenerative
adjective
de·gen·er·a·tive
| \ di-ˈje-nə-rə-tiv
, -ˈjen-rə-; -ˈje-nə-ˌrā-; dē-\
, -ˈjen-rə-; -ˈje-nə-ˌrā-; dē-\
Definition of degenerative
: of, relating to, involving, or causing degeneration
a degenerative disease
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Examples of degenerative in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
He has been diagnosed with inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscle disease that eventually will rob him of the ability to use his arms, legs and — most especially lethal for a guitarist — his fingers. — Chuck Yarborough, cleveland.com, "Peter Frampton going out on his own terms despite fight with degenerative muscle disease," 4 Aug. 2019 The law is aimed at preventing a degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. — SFChronicle.com, "Is high school football slowly dying? Read the latest numbers for California," 1 Aug. 2019 In recent years, Buoniconti struggled with symptoms of CTE, a degenerative brain disease associated with repeated blows to the head. — Washington Post, "Dolphins Hall of Fame linebacker Buoniconti dead at 78," 31 July 2019 He has been treated for multiple conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic degenerative disc and anemia, records show. — Fred Clasen-kelly, charlotteobserver, "His bedbug bites are so bad, his doctor told him to move: 'I sprayed Raid on my skin.'," 20 June 2018 Risk: Infectious agents such as the herpes virus, a bacterial infection in the brain or the bacteria that causes chronic progressive degenerative gum disease could contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. — Cindy Krischer Goodman, sun-sentinel.com, "New clues about why people get Alzheimer’s and how to fight it," 19 July 2019 He and his family helped the ice bucket challenge spread wildly on social media in 2014, raising hundreds of millions of dollars for research into the degenerative disease that destroys nerve cells and has no cure. — USA TODAY, "Moon rocks, Misty of Chincoteague, Haiku Stairs: News from around our 50 states," 28 June 2019 The university, in response to the video, said the drooling dogs have Duchenne muscular dystrophy —a degenerative muscle disease that primarily affects young boys and results in the inability to stand and difficulty breathing. — Dallas News, "Paul McCartney urges Texas A&M to end golden retriever experiments in muscular dystrophy research," 26 June 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan has been diagnosed with a degenerative back disease and could be forced to retire, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced on Thursday. — Alaa Abdeldaiem, SI.com, "Ryan Callahan Diagnosed With Degenerative Back Disease, Advised to End Career," 20 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'degenerative.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for degenerative
degenerative
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of degenerative
medical
: causing the body or part of the body to become weaker or less able to function as time passes
See the full definition for degenerative in the English Language Learners Dictionary
degenerative
adjective
de·gen·er·a·tive
| \ di-ˈjen-ə-ˌrāt-iv
, -ˈjen-(ə-)rət-
\
, -ˈjen-(ə-)rət-
\
Medical Definition of degenerative
: of, relating to, involving, or tending to cause degeneration
degenerative conditions of the nervous system— Morris Fishbein degenerative changes a degenerative muscle disorder
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