dilapidate

[dih-lap-i-deyt]

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verb (used with object), di·lap·i·dat·ed, di·lap·i·dat·ing.

to cause or allow (a building, automobile, etc.) to fall into a state of disrepair, as by misuse or neglect (often used passively): The house had been dilapidated by neglect.

Archaic. to squander; waste.

verb (used without object), di·lap·i·dat·ed, di·lap·i·dat·ing.

to fall into ruin or decay.

Origin of dilapidate

1560–70; < Medieval Latin dīlapidātus, past participle of dīlapidāre to squander (compare dīlapidātiō disrepair), Latin: to pelt with stones; see di-², lapidate

Related formsdi·lap·i·da·tion, noundi·lap·i·da·tor, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for dilapidate

mar, impoverish, wreck, overwhelm, injure, shatter, exhaust, demolish, crush, decimate, wrack, deplete, spoil, raze, bankrupt, impair, ravage, cripple, trash, sabotage

Examples from the Web for dilapidate

Historical Examples of dilapidate

Everything about the villain stream has a dilapidate, broken-down air: the very mud of the Spider Water is rusty.
Held for Orders
Frank H. Spearman
Smilash had immediately promised to dilapidate it to its former state at the end of the year.
An Unsocial Socialist
George Bernard Shaw

British Dictionary definitions for dilapidate

dilapidate

verb

to fall or cause to fall into ruin or decay

Word Origin for dilapidate

C16: from Latin dīlapidāre to scatter, waste, from dis- apart + lapidāre to stone, throw stones, from lapis stone

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for dilapidate

1560s, "to bring a building to ruin," from Latin dilapidatus, past participle of dilapidare "to squander, waste," originally "to throw stones, scatter like stones;" see dilapidation. Perhaps the English word is a back-formation from dilapidation.