dilapidate
English
Etymology
From Latin dilapidātus, past participle of dilapidō (“I destroy with stones”), from dis (“intensifier”) + lapidō (“I stone”), from lapis (“stone”)
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /dɪˈlæp.ɪ.deɪt/, /dəˈlæp.ə.deɪt/
Audio (US): (file)
Verb
Lua error in Module:en-headword at line 1145: Legacy parameter 1=STEM no longer supported, just use 'en-verb' without params
- To fall into ruin or disuse.
- (transitive) To cause to become ruined or put into disrepair.
- Blackstone
- If the bishop, parson, or vicar, etc., dilapidates the buildings, or cuts down the timber of the patrimony […]
- 1883, George Bernard Shaw, An Unsocial Socialist, chapter VI
- In the last days of autumn he had whitewashed the chalet, painted the doors, windows, and veranda, repaired the roof and interior, and improved the place so much that the landlord had warned him that the rent would be raised at the expiration of his twelvemonth's tenancy, remarking that a tenant could not reasonably expect to have a pretty, rain-tight dwelling-house for the same money as a hardly habitable ruin. Smilash had immediately promised to dilapidate it to its former state at the end of the year.
- Blackstone
- (transitive, figurative) To squander or waste.
- Wood
- The patrimony of the bishopric of Oxon was much dilapidated.
- Wood
Related terms
Translations
to fall into ruin or disuse
|
to cause to become ruined or put into disrepair
|
to squander or waste
|
Italian
Verb
dilapidate