de·te·ri·o·rate /dɪˈtɪəriəreɪt $ -ˈtɪr-/ ●●○ verb [intransitiveI] 1 WORSEto become worse 恶化 Ethel’s health has deteriorated. 埃塞尔的健康状况恶化了。
America’s deteriorating economy 美国日渐恶化的经济
n RegisterIn everyday English, people usually say get worse rather than deteriorate:
Her health got worse.
The situation is getting worse.
2 deteriorate into something SERIOUS SITUATIONto develop into a bad or worse situation 演变成某事,恶化成某事 The argument deteriorated into a fight. 争论演变成一场斗殴。
—deterioration /dɪˌtɪərɪˈreɪʃən $ -ˌtɪr-/ noun [uncountableU]
n THESAURUSdeteriorate to become worseAir quality is rapidly deteriorating in our cities.
Living conditions here have deteriorated in the past few years.
get worse to become worse. Get worse is less formal and more common than deteriorate in everyday EnglishMy eyesight seems to be getting worse.
He’s never been well-behaved, but he’s getting even worse.
go down to become gradually worse – used especially about the standard of somethingThe hotel’s gone down since its management changed.
Nick’s teachers say that his work has gone down recently.
go downhill to become much worse and be in a very bad condition, especially after a particular time or eventDuring the recession the business began to go downhill.
Her health went downhill rapidly after Christmas.
decline especially written to become gradually worse – used especially about standards of living, education, health etcAfter the war, the standard of living declined.
Over the years, the standard of public transport has declined.
degenerate formal to become worse, or to become something bad instead of something goodRelations between the two countries have degenerated.
The debate degenerated into an argument between the two sides.
escalate to become much worse very quickly – used especially about fighting, violence, or a bad situationFurther violence could escalate into a full-scale armed conflict.
The political crisis escalated.
spiral out of control to become worse in a way that cannot be controlled and is extremely serious and worryingPolice say that the violence has spiralled out of control.
Scientists are worried that global warming could soon spiral out of control.
Costs have been spiralling out of control.