[mass noun](Medicine)a rare congenital deformity in which the hands or feet are attached close to the trunk, the limbs being grossly underdeveloped or absent. This condition was a side effect of the drug thalidomide taken during early pregnancy (医)短肢畸形,海豹肢畸形
语源
late 19th cent.: modern Latin, from Greek phōkē 'seal' + melos 'limb'