I. noun
1.
Synonyms: blemish , flaw, vice
Related Word: failing, fault, foible, frailty; infirmity, weakness; deficiency, imperfection, shortcoming
Contrasted words: excellence, faultlessness, impeccability; merit, perfection, virtue
2.
Synonyms: absence , dearth, default, lack, ||miss, privation, want
Related Word: scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage
Contrasted words: overage, overplus, superfluity, surplus, surplusage
Antonyms: excess
II. verb
to desert a cause or party often in order to espouse another
he defected from the Communist party
Synonyms: apostatize, desert, rat, renounce, repudiate, tergiversate, tergiverse, turn
Related Word: abandon, forsake; back out, renege, withdraw; depart, go, leave, quit; reject, spurn
Idioms: change sides, go back on, go over, turn one's coat, walk ( or run) out on
Contrasted words: adhere (to), cling (to), hang on, stick (to or with); cherish, cultivate, foster