worsement
(ˈwɜːsmənt)
[f. worse v. + -ment, after betterment. Cf. worsenment.]
Deterioration and depreciation of real property caused by the action of persons outside without the owner's consent.
| 1884 Ld. Salisbury in 1st Rept. Royal Commiss. Housing Working Classes Q. 13690 If you charge for betterment, do not you think you should pay for worsement? 1890 Pall Mall Gaz. 18 July 2/2 We doubt whether the abolition of the gates and bars will in fact conduce to the ‘worsement’ of the squares and streets in question. 1908 Arnold-Forster in Mem. (1910) xxii. 340 That the principle of betterment should only be adopted concurrently with the principle of worsement, or deterioration. |
b. transf. and gen. (nonce-uses).
| 1893 Westm. Gaz. 30 May 1/1 This morning's batch contains 52 pages of ‘amendments’ (or worsements, ought not Mr. Plunket to call them?) on the Home Rule Bill. 1902 Ibid. 17 June 11/1 The ‘Worsement’ or ‘Betterment’ of Directors... Do the Directors stand to lose or gain..by the consolidation of the companies and the enlargement of the capital? |