undermaintain

English

Etymology

under- +‎ maintain

Verb

undermaintain (third-person singular simple present undermaintains, present participle undermaintaining, simple past and past participle undermaintained)

1. (transitive) To maintain inadequately; to allow to fall into disrepair.
   • 1945 November snd December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 329:

     For some years locomotives and coaches have been overworked and undermaintained to a degree without precedent in British railway history, and the leeway in maintenance now to be made up is very great.

   • 2007 February 18, Jake Mooney, “A Case of the Shivers”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     The cracking sound, he explained, as far as I, a non-plumber, could understand, was the sound of the overworked, undermaintained and weirdly installed heating unit’s core rupturing and spilling water into the basement.