Imperfect /(?)/

Im·per·fect

Imperfect

a.
  1. Not perfect; not complete in all its parts; wanting a part; deective; deficient.
    Something he left imperfect in the state.
    Why, then, your other senses grow imperfect.
  2. Wanting in some elementary organ that is essential to successful or normal activity.
    He . . . stammered like a child, or an amazed, imperfect person.
  3. Not fulfilling its design; not realizing an ideal; not conformed to a standard or rule; not satisfying the taste or conscience; esthetically or morally defective.
    Nothing imperfect or deficient left Of all that he created.
    Then say not man's imperfect, Heaven in fault; Say rather, man's as perfect as he ought.

Phrases & Compounds
Imperfect arch
an arch of less than a semicircle; a skew arch.
Imperfect cadence
one not ending with the tonic, but with the dominant or some other chord; one not giving complete rest; a half close.
Imperfect consonances
chords like the third and sixth, whose ratios are less simple than those of the fifth and forth.
Imperfect flower
a flower wanting either stamens or pistils.
Imperfect interval
one a semitone less than perfect; as, an imperfect fifth.
Imperfect number
a number either greater or less than the sum of its several divisors; in the former case, it is called also a defective number; in the latter, an abundant number.
Imperfect obligations
obligations as of charity or gratitude, which cannot be enforced by law.
Imperfect power
a number which can not be produced by taking any whole number or vulgar fraction, as a factor, the number of times indicated by the power; thus, 9 is a perfect square, but an imperfect cube.
Imperfect tense
a tense expressing past time and incomplete action.

Imperfect

n.
  1. The imperfect tense; or the form of a verb denoting the imperfect tense. (Gram.)

Imperfect

v. t.
  1. To make imperfect. [Obs.]