I. ne ‧ glect 1 /nɪˈɡlekt/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: past participle of neglegere , negligere , from neg- 'not' + legere 'to gather' ]
1 . to fail to look after someone or something properly:
She smoked and drank, neglected the children, and left the clothes unmended.
a neglected garden
The building has been badly neglected.
2 . to pay too little attention to something:
Many of these ideas have been neglected by modern historians.
The police officer was accused of neglecting his duty (=not doing everything he should) .
3 . neglect to do something formal to not do something:
You neglected to mention that they had a second album released during 1991.
II. neglect 2 BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
1 . failure to look after something or someone, or the condition of not being looked after
neglect of
Tenants are complaining about the landlord’s neglect of the property.
years/decades/centuries etc of neglect
After years of neglect, the roads were full of potholes.
The whole district had an air of abandonment and neglect.
2 . failure to pay proper attention to something
neglect of
Five officers were court-martialled for cowardice or neglect of duty.