How to Use atrophy in a Sentence

atrophy

1 of 2 noun
  • The doctor is concerned about possible atrophy of the shoulder muscles.
  • And without a rich street life, the public spaces of a city atrophy.
    Michael J. Lewis, National Review, 3 Sep. 2020
  • The disease causes parts of the lobes to atrophy, causing changes in these areas.
    Rebecca Aizin, Peoplemag, 17 Feb. 2023
  • This can lead to vaginal atrophy, where the vaginal walls become dry and thin.
    Emily Lincke, Houston Chronicle, 31 Oct. 2017
  • There’s a big win in the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy.
    Kelly Servick, Science | AAAS, 4 Feb. 2020
  • Her son, Malachi, was born with the most severe form of spinal muscular atrophy.
    Damian Garde, Scientific American, 4 June 2019
  • Sometimes the muscles near their jaw atrophy, or thin out.
    Dawn Filos, Philly.com, 15 Dec. 2017
  • The future that these years of atrophy and anomie and enmity teased at arrived all at once.
    David Roth, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
  • Skin atrophy is one of the most common side effects of topical steroid overuse.
    Verywell Health, 24 Jan. 2023
  • Expect the living witness of their faith to atrophy and wither because of it.
    Cameron Hilditch, National Review, 4 Sep. 2020
  • And that, in combination with the war on terror, has led to an atrophy in Congress’s oversight role on the issue of war.
    Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2020
  • Even today schools in some countries, such as the Philippines, remain shut to most pupils, leaving their minds to atrophy.
    James Freeman, WSJ, 11 July 2022
  • Muscle weakness and atrophy are common, and pain can be a real problem in many forms of CMT.
    Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 1 June 2022
  • But then their lifeline — the highway — began to atrophy.
    Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2022
  • Most of that sales growth came from Spinraza, a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy that launched last year.
    Charley Grant, WSJ, 24 Apr. 2018
  • And that memory loss and brain atrophy are not inevitable?
    Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, 5 Jan. 2021
  • In addition, the lack of sensory input from the ear may hasten rates of brain atrophy.
    Stacey Burling, chicagotribune.com, 21 Oct. 2019
  • That’s helpful, because the diaphragm can atrophy quickly if the muscle isn’t used.
    Julie Washington, cleveland, 25 July 2023
  • The result has been widespread atrophy in this society of refugees.
    Scott Peterson, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Sep. 2023
  • The medicine helps children with spinal muscular atrophy live a normal life.
    New York Times, 24 Jan. 2023
  • With this much Netflix, the danger of muscle atrophy is real.
    Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 24 Mar. 2022
  • Detroit was far from the only city where the latest census showed a populace in atrophy.
    New York Times, 28 Aug. 2021
  • Yet many of the systems meant to help children in crisis have been left to atrophy, and in some cases have been dismantled since the Great Recession.
    Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2023
  • The atrophy was more pronounced in the artistic group than in those without artistic tendencies.
    Robert Martone, Scientific American, 26 May 2023
  • Because his right foot was immobilized for so long, there was atrophy in the right calf muscle.
    Rick Stroud, orlandosentinel.com, 19 Oct. 2021
  • The financial crisis and the pandemic showed the atrophy of our systems of protection and trust.
    New York Times, 2 June 2022
  • Affecting more than 1 in 9 U.S. adults 65 and older, Alzheimer’s results from brain atrophy with the death of neurons and loss of the connections between them.
    Kristine Zengeler, Discover Magazine, 10 Dec. 2022
  • Olson says that the root of many neuropsychiatric conditions is the atrophy of neurons in the pre-frontal cortex.
    Will Yakowicz, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2021
  • Elsewhere in the football players’ brains, the MRIs detected atrophy of tissue.
    TIME, 5 Feb. 2024
  • Researchers have found ways to alter or turn off disease-causing genes in leukemia, hemophilia A, spinal muscular atrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and other diseases.
    Isabella Cueto, STAT, 10 July 2023
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atrophy

2 of 2 verb
  • On the con side, your muscles will atrophy to the point where returning to Earth would kill you.
    Ethan Simon, The New Yorker, 15 Nov. 2021
  • That same club now plays in the lowly fourth tier of British soccer, truly the minor leagues where a team can atrophy cash.
    Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 20 Apr. 2021
  • Part of the cultural fabric of the city for more than a century, the tram system has been allowed to atrophy for a lack of riders.
    Ahmer Khan, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Apr. 2023
  • And like fishing towns all across Alaska, a few bad years of returns can atrophy the pathways to get fish to market.
    Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 6 Sep. 2021
  • The system then atrophied, with the army knocked out of its complacency once again by setbacks experienced during the Crimean War.
    Huw J. Davies, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2023
  • The overall effect was that although the United States remained the world’s preeminent power, some of its most vital muscles atrophied.
    Jake Sullivan, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2023
  • Once an above-average second baseman, his defense had atrophied to be well below average over the last two seasons.
    The Arizona Republic, 12 Apr. 2023
  • Although parts of the brain primed for creativity and thinking about the self can grow during loneliness, that could mean that other social parts of the brain would atrophy from inactivity.
    Ryan Prior, CNN, 16 Dec. 2020
  • Of course, the pain returned immediately, because once you are immobilized the muscles will atrophy.
    Brian Fullem, Outside Online, 29 Apr. 2019
  • With continued high doses, your muscles can technically atrophy, or lose their strength.
    New York Times, 8 Apr. 2021
  • In total, the effort is designed to atrophy Russia's industrial base by robbing it of key components needed to carry out everyday business.
    Jeremy Herb, CNN, 24 Feb. 2022
  • Those kinds of incentives have helped to atrophy Republican leaders’ usual tools of maintaining discipline.
    Blake Hounshell, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Jan. 2023
  • The defense-industrial base that was once the foundation of American power has atrophied in ways that would astonish previous generations.
    The Editors, National Review, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Either the institutional mechanisms that should spare the incumbent president this embarrassment have atrophied, or a sizable minority of Democrats no longer responds to them.
    Noah Rothman, National Review, 1 May 2023
  • Its industrial and technological strength has atrophied, its vital supply chains are vulnerable, its alliances are frayed, and its government is hollowed out.
    Hillary Rodham Clinton, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2020
  • On the con side, your muscles will atrophy to the point where returning to Earth would kill you.
    Ethan Simon, The New Yorker, 15 Nov. 2021
  • That same club now plays in the lowly fourth tier of British soccer, truly the minor leagues where a team can atrophy cash.
    Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 20 Apr. 2021
  • Part of the cultural fabric of the city for more than a century, the tram system has been allowed to atrophy for a lack of riders.
    Ahmer Khan, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Apr. 2023
  • And like fishing towns all across Alaska, a few bad years of returns can atrophy the pathways to get fish to market.
    Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 6 Sep. 2021
  • The system then atrophied, with the army knocked out of its complacency once again by setbacks experienced during the Crimean War.
    Huw J. Davies, Foreign Affairs, 18 Apr. 2023
  • The overall effect was that although the United States remained the world’s preeminent power, some of its most vital muscles atrophied.
    Jake Sullivan, Foreign Affairs, 24 Oct. 2023
  • Once an above-average second baseman, his defense had atrophied to be well below average over the last two seasons.
    The Arizona Republic, 12 Apr. 2023
  • Although parts of the brain primed for creativity and thinking about the self can grow during loneliness, that could mean that other social parts of the brain would atrophy from inactivity.
    Ryan Prior, CNN, 16 Dec. 2020
  • Of course, the pain returned immediately, because once you are immobilized the muscles will atrophy.
    Brian Fullem, Outside Online, 29 Apr. 2019
  • With continued high doses, your muscles can technically atrophy, or lose their strength.
    New York Times, 8 Apr. 2021
  • In total, the effort is designed to atrophy Russia's industrial base by robbing it of key components needed to carry out everyday business.
    Jeremy Herb, CNN, 24 Feb. 2022
  • Those kinds of incentives have helped to atrophy Republican leaders’ usual tools of maintaining discipline.
    Blake Hounshell, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Jan. 2023
  • The defense-industrial base that was once the foundation of American power has atrophied in ways that would astonish previous generations.
    The Editors, National Review, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Either the institutional mechanisms that should spare the incumbent president this embarrassment have atrophied, or a sizable minority of Democrats no longer responds to them.
    Noah Rothman, National Review, 1 May 2023
  • Its industrial and technological strength has atrophied, its vital supply chains are vulnerable, its alliances are frayed, and its government is hollowed out.
    Hillary Rodham Clinton, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'atrophy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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