Definition of "dereliction" []

• Willful neglect, as of duty or principle. (noun)
• The act of abandoning; abandonment. (noun)
• A state of abandonment or neglect. (noun)
• Law A gaining of land by the permanent recession of the water line. (noun)
• Law The land so gained. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "If this dereliction is allowed to persist, it is predictable that more Americans will die, both on foreign battlefields and at home."
• "That right there is what they call dereliction of duty where I come from, Pardner. hoho"
• "- In 2006, then Microsoft Vice President Peter Moore apologized for what he called a dereliction of duty to the company's number one gaming platform: The PC."