Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To bring or fall into a state of partial ruin, decay, or disrepair.
- v. Archaic To squander; waste.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To bring into a ruinous condition; impair or reduce to a state of ruin; especially, to ruin by misuse or neglect.
- To waste; squander.
- To give the appearance of dilapidation to.
- To fall into partial or total ruin; fall by decay.
Wiktionary
- v. To fall into ruin or disuse.
- v. To cause to become ruined or put into disrepair.
- v. figuratively To squander or waste.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin, by misuse or through neglect; to destroy the fairness and good condition of; -- said of a building.
- v. To impair by waste and abuse; to squander.
- v. To get out of repair; to fall into partial ruin; to become decayed.
WordNet 3.0
- v. fall into decay or ruin
- v. bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin by neglect or misuse
Etymologies
- From Latin dilapidātus, past participle of dilapidō ("I destroy with stones"), from dis ("intensifier") + lapidō ("I stone"), from lapis ("stone") (Wiktionary)
- Latin dīlapidāre, dīlapidāt-, to demolish, destroy : dī-, dis-, apart; see dis- + lapidāre, to throw stones (from lapis, lapid-, stone). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“If you are left alone, that quality of education you are boasting about will crumble and dilapidate.”
Obama, Peres and Colbert on the Persian New Year - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com
“The blatant lies of their elites continue to dilapidate the little crumbs that are still left, of what was once the "Great American Dream," - and has now become the "Great American Nightmare.”
“The church of Elgin had, in the intestine tumults of the barbarous ages, been laid waste by the irruption of a highland chief, whom the bishop had offended; but it was gradually restored to the state, of which the traces may be now discerned, and was at last not destroyed by the tumultuous violence of Knox, but more shamefully suffered to dilapidate by deliberate robbery and frigid indifference.”
“In this manner innumerable low ruffians have obtained the estates and houses of their lords; but, faithful to their old habits and early origin, they abuse only what they possess; live in the stables, and convert the castle into a barn, a granary, a brew-house, a manufactory, or sometimes dilapidate it brick by brick, as their convenience may require.”
“They tax the country according to their pleasure, and dilapidate the estates of the”
“They were too prone to dilapidate and destroy their dwellings; they were therefore required to pay for the locks, cupboards, and doors.”
“Dumouriez grumbles and they dilapidate abroad: within the walls there is sinning, and without the walls there is sinning.”
“The story of the second, or scapegoat, Virgil would be much damaged by the character given to the real bishop, if there were anything in it to dilapidate.”
“It looks like Cheney/Bus Titus Pullo 11 minutes ago 11:24 AM "Iraq has been importing refined products since 2003 because of the dilapidate d refining sector and booming local demand.”
“Taking a middle point of time between the Parthian revolution and the fatal overthrow of Forum Terebronii, we may fix upon the reign of Philip the Arab, [who naturalized himself in Rome by the appellation of Marcus Julius,] as the epoch from which the Roman empire, already sapped and undermined by changes from within, began to give way, and to dilapidate from without.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dilapidate’.
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 567 more...
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But technically it means...
Words with technical senses resembling but not wholly reflective of vernacular usage, often because of a need for greater precision in some discipline or other.
planet, twilight, substance, zombie, sublime, type, token, natural, life, epidemic, evolution, likelihood and 12 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, D
dodecahedron, din, diglyceride, dysphotopsia, decoction, deboss, diatonic, dithyramb, divagate, discalced, dishdasha, daft and 281 more...
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Tolland's list
Those I've come across and try to keep fresh within my mind.
clandestine, dysphoric, indictive, vigil, fractious, assiduous, indefatigable, ubiquitous, insidious, paroicous, aplomb, sangfroid and 654 more...
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librarygoblin's words
crystal, ghost, mist, snow, labyrinth, citadel, tomb, mystery, arcane, conundrum, echo, dynamo and 389 more...
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tez's Words
tain, curlicue, eidolon, exoteric, puissant, ragamuffin, insouciant, yarrow, taciturn, mundane, vomitorium, tenebre and 140 more...
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Go over
mollify, obstinate, obviate, occlude, onerous, obscure, paragon, pedantic, perfunctory, placate, placid, prodigal and 364 more...
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On The Road
It's a book by Jack Kerouac
Vague, jalopy, naïve, emaciated, vindicate, hysterical, Obsequious, Schopenhauer, dichotomy, jargon, phosphorescence, lout and 87 more...
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Odessa's Words
defenestration, decathect, effulgent, taciturn, ataraxia, coprophagous, nyctitropic, pernicious, paradox, anachronism, synesthesia, cacophony and 223 more...
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GRE
corroborate, adulterate, audacious, capricious, desiccate, engender, ephemeral, laconic, laudable, loquacious, mitigate, pedant and 40 more...
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The Nanny Diaries
Words encountered from the novel "The Nanny Diaries" by Emma MCLaughlin and Nicola Kraus.
Genuflect, Epitome, loom, cognitive, filigree, insouciance, careen, precariously, consternation, acquiesce, decadent, trepidation and 27 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for dilapidate.
dontcry Don't make me go all dilapidate on your sorry ass! May 2, 2008
yarb Would make a good threat. E.g. 'I'm gonna dilapidate your sorry ass!' May 2, 2008
seanahan From the Latin, literally means take apart the stones. Sep 13, 2007