dilapidate

Etymology

From Latin dilapidātus, past participle of dilapidō (“I destroy with stones”), from dis- (“intensifier”) + lapidō (“I stone”), from lapis (“stone”).

verb

  1. (transitive) To cause to become ruined or put into disrepair.
    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. 1883, George Bernard Shaw, chapter VI, in An Unsocial Socialist
  2. (transitive, figurative) To squander or waste.
    The patrimony of the bishopric of Oxon was much dilapidated. 1692, Anthony Wood, Athenae Oxonienses
  3. (intransitive, archaic) To fall into ruin or disuse.

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