LACKING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lacking mean? 

• LACKING (adjective)
  The adjective LACKING has 2 senses:

1. inadequate in amount or degree

2. nonexistent

  Familiarity information: LACKING used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LACKING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Inadequate in amount or degree

Synonyms:

deficient; lacking; wanting

Context example:

tested and found wanting

Similar:

inadequate; unequal (lacking the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Nonexistent

Synonyms:

absent; lacking; missing; wanting

Context example:

her appetite was lacking

Similar:

nonexistent (not having existence or being or actuality)

 Context examples 

Two weeks afterward, the mice lacking FOXO3 continued to have severe hearing loss, but the normal mice seemed to mostly recover their hearing.

(Protein involved in hearing loss recovery, NIH)

Cardiac cells from mice lacking the Hop gene fail to exit the cell cycle in the normal manner, continuing to proliferate past the normal developmental stage.

(HOP Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Viruses lacking the Vif gene are only able to replicate in cells lacking CEM15 and expressing CEM15 in cells is sufficient to prevent HIV infection.

(HIV-1 Infection Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

STAT-4 is essential for IL-12 activity and the phenotype of mice lacking STAT-4 is very similar to the phenotype of mice lacking the IL-12 receptor or IL-12.

(IL12 Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Obese mice lacking IFN-gamma progressed rapidly to NASH and developed liver scarring.

(NIH study sheds light on immune responses driving obesity-induced liver disease, National Institutes of Health)

An ester of paraaminobenzoic acid, lacking the terminal diethylamino group of procaine, with anesthetic activity.

(Benzocaine, NCI Thesaurus)

In a study of 6,000 people in Lima, Peru, researchers found that those whose diets were lacking in vitamin A had a 10-fold increased risk of developing TB from an infected family member.

(Vitamin A Supplement May Thwart Tuberculosis Infection, Jessica Berman/VOA)

Proteins lacking the basic domain act as inhibitors, failing to bind DNA. bHLH proteins exhibit specific dimerization partner combinations.

(Helix-Loop-Helix Domain, NCI Thesaurus)

Ewing sarcoma and peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor represent the ends of a spectrum, with Ewing sarcoma lacking evidence of neural differentiation and the markers that characterize the peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor.

(Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

Single-celled organisms lacking nuclei, similar to prokaryotes in most aspects of cell structure and metabolism.

(Archaea, NCI Thesaurus)