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What is "worsen"

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worsen
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
worsen
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a situation worsens/deteriorates/gets worse
▪ Reports from the area suggest the situation has worsened.
a worsening/deepening crisis
▪ The strikes came during a worsening economic crisis.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
when
▪ The oppression worsened when Ceausescu came to power in 1965.
▪ The situation worsened when another shutdown began on Dec. 16. and lasted more than three weeks.
■ NOUN
condition
▪ But on 20 November, his condition worsened, and he took to his bed.
▪ She spent time with her family Sunday, but her condition worsened early yesterday morning.
▪ Miss T.'s father returned to the ward and thought that her condition was worsening and that she appeared disorientated.
▪ Whispered in reverent and regretful tones, the rumors had been floating for the past few weeks that her condition had worsened.
▪ For many people real wages fell and working conditions worsened.
▪ This condition is worsened by the cutting of notches in the joists to house sub-floor services like heating pipes.
▪ He has a delicate and rare skin condition that worsens in sunlight.
problem
▪ The single currency is in trouble, and the problem is worsening.
▪ The problem worsens with the relentless financial pressures for immediate performance in the short run.
▪ Where an institutional view is predominant, preventive efforts are pitched at the secondary level: early intervention to prevent problems worsening.
▪ They predict the problem will only worsen as Tucson continues spiraling outward.
▪ Sister Bernie Galvin, director of Religious Witness, another homeless rights group, said the problem appears to be worsening.
▪ The parents accepted their responsibility for helping Mark, but in spite of their efforts, the problem worsened.
situation
▪ The situation was worsened by the ineptitude and intransigence of the oil companies.
▪ The situation worsened when another shutdown began on Dec. 16. and lasted more than three weeks.
▪ When the petrol situation started to worsen earlier this week the site saw a 300 per cent increase in traffic.
▪ The situation could worsen this year as the government continues to clamp down on credit.
▪ Clients are paying more slowly and over 40 p.c. of firms expect the situation to worsen.
▪ In recent weeks, reports from the area suggest the situation has worsened.
▪ Wright has a short fuse, and without the goals going in his situation is worsening.
▪ From that day onwards the situation worsened.
■ VERB
continue
▪ Overall, property results continue to worsen with annual returns now running at 6.2 percent.
▪ They should be doubly ashamed by the traffic snarls that years of indecision allowed to continue, and worsen.
▪ These images symbolised the chaos which continues to worsen.
▪ But without it, our condition will continue to worsen.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ worsening economic conditions
▪ Relations between the two countries have steadily worsened.
▪ The government's bungling attempts to help have only worsened the refugees' plight.
▪ The situation was worsened by Roy's tendency to drink heavily in times of stress.
▪ The weather worsened during the night.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Conditions for many minority groups have worsened.
▪ The cost of uniforms and books was becoming prohibitive and the gang scene was worsening at school.
▪ The growth of towns alone produced a rapid worsening of their human and material condition.
▪ The recession has deepened, the huge national debt has increased, the people's lot worsened.
▪ The weather had worsened during the short, delay.
▪ Third, the very bad relations between the presidential administration and the government have worsened sharply.
▪ Thirty percent said a third party would make government better, and 23 percent said it would worsen the situation.
▪ Vacillations between anger and overprotectiveness only worsen the situation.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Worsen

Worsen \Wors"en\, v. t.

  1. To make worse; to deteriorate; to impair.

    It is apparent that, in the particular point of which we have been conversing, their condition is greatly worsened.
    --Southey.

  2. To get the better of; to worst. [R.]

Worsen

Worsen \Wors"en\, v. i. To grow or become worse.
--De Quincey.

Indifferent health, which seemed rather to worsen than improve.
--Carlyle.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
worsen

mid-13c., wersnen "to make worse," also "to grow worse," from worse (adj.) + -en (1). The reflexive sense of "to get worse, become worse off" was elevated into literary use c.1800-30, where formerly worse (v.) had served. Related: Worsened; worsening.

Wiktionary
worsen

vb. 1 (context transitive English) To make worse; to impair. 2 (context intransitive English) To become worse; to get worse. 3 (context transitive obsolete English) To get the better of; to worst.

WordNet
worsen

  1. v. grow worse; "Conditions in the slum worsened" [syn: decline] [ant: better]

  2. make worse; "This drug aggravates the pain" [syn: aggravate, exacerbate, exasperate] [ant: better]

Usage examples of "worsen".

The flooding worsened the list until the ship began leaning hard aport into the hull of the black submarine alongside.

Softly at first, but as the hours went by and the pain deepened and the situation worsened, I screamed out lyrics to old Home Guard marching songs, then bawdy limericks I had learned as a bargeman on the Kans River, then merely screams.

Bay the weather worsened steadily, and at last it came to be a choice between battening down the hatches both forward and aft, or being incontinently swamped.

Soyana corporation back in 2058, and they made a great deal of money from selling bonded servitors before the worsening social and religious situation on Earth virtually closed down the market.

Bremer was so concerned by the tone of the aardwolf that he felt compelled to write an accompanying note at the end of the report, in which he downplayed its analysis of the worsening conditions in Iraq.

All hope of catching up to Mother Coddington short of Gloucester faded as the weather worsened but Gilbert pushed on at dawn in spite of the storm.

The following day when the dogs were brought to sick call, I removed the bandaged feet only to find the condition had worsened.

However, Wells presented a dystopian vision of the future as a warning of what could happen if the rigid social and economic divisions of his own society worsened to the extreme.

Hitler returned to Germany in a state of considerable irritation and called a meeting of his party leaders in the little town of Gera in Thuringia for Sunday, June 17, to report on his talks with Mussolini and to assess the worsening situation at home.

Monthly memos that crossed his desk showed a troubling decline in government tax collections throughout the year, and it seemed to be worsening.

The chief events since I wrote on 15 April have been the British defeats in Libya and Greece, and the general worsening of the situation in the Middle East, with Iraq in revolt, Stalin evidently preparing to go into closer partnership with Hitler, and Darlan getting ready to let German troops into Syria.

Now there were short flumes of rain they decided to stay in Leeuwarden for the rest of the day, and in spite of the worsening weather, they prowled happily up and down the narrow lanes, looking at the old, small houses, while Aede pointed out their architectural points, and when Harriet at length had had her fill, they strolled in and out of the shops, where she bought presents to take home--silver teaspoons and Makkum pottery, and tobacco for her father.

Jaryd listened to these stories with a skeptical ear, but, as the tales persisted and the crimes attributed to the mages worsened, he grew increasingly despondent and fearful, not only for himself, but for all of Tobyn-Ser.

But when Olivia saw them again the next day, matters only seemed to have worsened.

Iza taught her to prepare the painkilling drinks and poultices that eased his rheumatism, and Ayla made a specialty of the remedies for that affliction of the older members of the clan, whose suffering invariably worsened with their confinement to the cold stone cave.