DERELICT • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Derelict

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/dˈɛrəlˌɪkt/ Listen

adjective

Derelict adj.

Given up or forsaken by the natural owner or guardian; left and abandoned; as, derelict lands. "The affections which these exposed or derelict children bear to their mothers, have no grounds of nature or assiduity but civility and opinion."

Lost; adrift; hence, wanting; careless; neglectful; unfaithful. "They easily prevailed, so as to seize upon the vacant, unoccupied, and derelict minds of his (Chatham's) friends; and instantly they turned the vessel wholly out of the course of his policy." "A government which is either unable or unwilling to redress such wrongs is derelict to its highest duties."

noun

Derelict n. (Law)

(a)

A thing voluntary abandoned or willfully cast away by its proper owner, especially a ship abandoned at sea.

(b)

A tract of land left dry by the sea, and fit for cultivation or use.

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Etymology of 'Derelict'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Derelict" Quotes from Famous Books

... not explain how his entire capital was in cash at the time, when he was supposed to be in trade; but even if derelict, he was too far away to be sought out and his story investigated, so the loss was accepted by the family as an indication that Providence was not inclined to smile upon the substitution of the eldest for the youngest son as a retriever of the Vespucci fortunes. All looked now towards Amerigo ...

— Amerigo Vespucci • Frederick A. Ober

... coast, watching for an opportunity to strike the enemy a blow. It deals more particularly with his descent upon Whitehaven, the seizure of Lady Selkirk's plate, and the famous battle with the Drake. The boy who figures in the tale is one who was taken from a derelict by Paul Jones shortly after this particular cruise ...

— Ralph Gurney's Oil Speculation • James Otis

... the public standpoint, to fill, then no possible blame attaches to the official or officials who step in because they have to, and who then do the needed work in the interest of the people. The blame in such cases lies with the body which has been derelict, and not with the body which ...

— Theodore Roosevelt - An Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt • Theodore Roosevelt

... The last— That time is past; yet in too-golden day My heart goes from me whispering, "Where are you—you—you—you?" And comes back easeless to an easeless breast. But at night I rest Dreamless as derelict ships ride out to sea Empty, and no bird even on the snapp'd mast Pauses: into oblivion her shadow's cast; Into the empty night goes lonely she, And into ...

— Poems New and Old • John Freeman

... known from the first, had he not lived solely in the moment, like most other chauffeurs. The village forge was not assez bien outillee for a finished lever to be produced; the Prince's car must remain a derelict, unless we towed it ...

— My Friend the Chauffeur • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

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