Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive & intransitive verb To make or become worse.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To grow worse; deteriorate.
- To make worse; cause to deteriorate.
- To obtain advantage of.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To grow or become worse.
- transitive verb To make worse; to deteriorate; to impair.
- transitive verb rare To get the better of; to worst.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To make
worse . - verb intransitive To become
worse ; to getworse .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb grow worse
- verb make worse
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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So if (1) and (2) are fine, why would Fiske object to saying that “worsen is one of the only words that mean to aggravate,” or that “the new copywriter is one of the only people inclined to use &”?
Robert Hartwell Fiske strikes me as a prig and a bully « Motivated Grammar 2009
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So if (1) and (2) are fine, why would Fiske object to saying that “worsen is one of the only words that mean to aggravate,” or that “the new copywriter is one of the only people inclined to use &”?
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If we do nothing, the current situation will worsen from the perspective of all relevant interests: physicians will experience more litigation, few victims of medical injuries will receive compensation, and the cost to the health-care and judicial systems will be high.
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"Some consumers are seeing their scores improve, others are seeing their scores worsen, which is normal," a lawyer for Allstate Corp. says.
Car Insurers Defend Their Credit-Score Use Leslie Scism 2010
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As I already mentioned, many doctored coins worsen over time.
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In late March, the Toronto Board of Trade warned the current gridlock crisis will only worsen, which is hard to fathom since the GTA already ranks dead last in its ranking of 21 North American cities for average commute time.
Thestar.com - Home Page Liam Casey 2011
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But the forward looking expectations gauge predicts things are likely to worsen, which isn't being reflected in a gain for equities on Friday.
Forbes.com: News Andrew Wilkinson 2011
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The meeting proposed a 10 percent cut if things worsen, which is 7.5 percent more than the original proposed cut at the start of the school year.
The Daily Illini - The Independent Student Newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871 2009
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Moody's Investors Service said Jan. 15 that it's reviewing Shiseido's Aa3 long-term credit rating for a possible downgrade because the acquisition may "worsen" the company's financials.
BusinessWeek.com -- 2010
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Moody's Investors Service said Jan. 15 that it's reviewing Shiseido's Aa3 long-term credit rating for a possible downgrade because the acquisition may "worsen" the company's financials.
BusinessWeek.com -- 2010
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