From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdeformationde‧for‧ma‧tion /ˌdiːfɔːˈmeɪʃən $ -ɔːr-/ noun [countable, uncountable] technical SPOILa change in the usual shape of something, especially one that makes it worse, or the process of changing something’s shape
Examples from the Corpus
deformation• deformation of the telescope's mirror• Ductile substances are capable of considerable smooth, continuous deformation before they break.• B is termed the left Cauchy-Green deformation tensor, both terms having obvious origins in the definitions given above.• Many other sports, with a greater stress on grace and timing, require much less physical or hormonal deformation.• Other evidence supports the idea of a lack of major deformation within plates, at least over plates composed of oceanic lithosphere.• Some continental-margin orogens show evidence of deformation attributable to contraction in the back-arc region.• Fun-house reflections: deformations and odd angles.• Skull deformation is widely known later in the Iron Age where it occurred among the Alans and Huns.• Such deformation can be minimised by linking suspension cables to tensioning cables, converting them into a series of straight lengths. 