Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Deserted by an owner or keeper; abandoned.
- adjective Run-down; dilapidated.
- adjective Neglectful of duty or obligation; remiss. synonym: negligent.
- noun A homeless or jobless person; a vagrant.
- noun Abandoned property, especially a ship abandoned at sea.
- noun Land left dry by a permanent recession of the water line.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Left; abandoned by the owner or guardian.
- Unfaithful; neglectful of requirement or responsibility: as, derelict in duty.
- noun That which is abandoned; in law, an article of goods or any commodity thrown away, relinquished, or abandoned by the owner; specifically, a vessel abandoned at sea.
- noun Land left dry by a change of the water-line.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A thing voluntary abandoned or willfully cast away by its proper owner, especially a ship abandoned at sea.
- noun A tract of land left dry by the sea, and fit for cultivation or use.
- adjective Given up or forsaken by the natural owner or guardian; left and abandoned.
- adjective Lost; adrift; hence, wanting; careless; neglectful; unfaithful.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Abandoned, forsaken; (of ship) abandoned at sea; dilapidated, neglected.
- adjective Negligent in performing a duty.
- noun Property abandoned by its former owner, especially a ship abandoned at sea.
- noun dated An abandoned or forsaken person; an outcast.
- noun A homeless and/or jobless person; a person who is (perceived as) negligent in their personal affairs and hygiene. (This sense is a modern development of the preceding sense.)
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a ship abandoned on the high seas
- adjective worn and broken down by hard use
- adjective failing in what duty requires
- noun a person without a home, job, or property
- adjective in deplorable condition
- adjective forsaken by owner or inhabitants
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Richards shows Brown agonising about how to raise the living standards of the poor – a concern that never animated Tony Blair – by finding stealthy means to fund public services, which, as he reminds us, were close to being in derelict when Labour took power.
Whatever it Takes: The Real Story of Gordon Brown and New Labour by Steve Richards Nick Cohen 2010
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Who wants to live in derelict, isolating urban sprawl, anyway?
US Government May Bulldoze 50 Cities; Create More Green Space | Inhabitat 2009
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Now that this derelict is discovered, that secret is at risk of being revealed.
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Christ I still remember with fear when the dog handler used to get the probationers on night shift to hide for them in derelict bulidings or woodland -
Wednesday Morning At Five O’Clock « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2008
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In the background, as the hallway monitor told me an anecdote about street wise teachers who brought in derelict vehicles for a free paint job courtesy of teen vandals, was the mandatory Multiculturalism is Strength mural.
Archive 2007-10-01 2007
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In the background, as the hallway monitor told me an anecdote about street wise teachers who brought in derelict vehicles for a free paint job courtesy of teen vandals, was the mandatory Multiculturalism is Strength mural.
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In general it has to be dumped in derelict and unguarded houses, where such of it as is not looted is ruined by damp.
As I Please 1944
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Barge 202 was one of 34 so-called derelict vessels the Coast Guard monitors along the Columbia.
Living Alone on a Steel Barge Clearly Has a Downside Joel Millman 2011
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The derelict are the men and women in the mortgage business and the financial community.
Jeff Madrick: Stop Whining? The Privileged Are in Charge 2008
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Hundreds of fans stormed the gates and overwhelming security personnel - some of whom Ngoepe called derelict in their duties.
jwjarvis commented on the word derelict
Those members derelict in these duties had to pay a one-dollar fine.
September 14, 2010
bilby commented on the word derelict
Which members?
September 14, 2010