ANENCEPHALY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does anencephaly mean? 

• ANENCEPHALY (noun)
  The noun ANENCEPHALY has 1 sense:

1. a defect in brain development resulting in small or missing brain hemispheres

  Familiarity information: ANENCEPHALY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ANENCEPHALY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A defect in brain development resulting in small or missing brain hemispheres

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

anencephalia; anencephaly

Hypernyms ("anencephaly" is a kind of...):

birth defect; congenital abnormality; congenital anomaly; congenital defect; congenital disorder (a defect that is present at birth)

Derivation:

anencephalic; anencephalous (characterized by partial or total absence of a brain)

 Context examples 

Babies with anencephaly are either stillborn or die shortly after birth.

(Neural Tube Defects, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

Hrubec found that exposure to these chemicals resulted in neural tube birth defects — the same birth defect as spina bifida and anencephaly in humans.

(Common Household Chemicals Lead to Birth Defects in Mice, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The level of alpha-fetoprotein in amniotic fluid is used to measure renal loss of protein to screen for spina bifida and anencephaly.

(Alpha-fetoprotein, NCI Thesaurus/LocusLink)

In anencephaly, most of the brain and skull do not develop.

(Neural Tube Defects, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

The two most common neural tube defects are spina bifida and anencephaly.

(Neural Tube Defects, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)