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Webster 1913 Edition


Abuse

A-buse′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Abused
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Abusing
.]
[F.
abuser
; L.
abusus
, p. p. of
abuti
to abuse, misuse;
ab
+
uti
to use. See
Use
.]
1.
To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to misuse; to put to a bad use; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert;
as, to
abuse
inherited gold
; to make an excessive use of;
as, to
abuse
one’s authority
.
This principle (if one may so
abuse
the word) shoots rapidly into popularity.
Froude.
2.
To use ill; to maltreat; to act injuriously to; to punish or to tax excessively; to hurt;
as, to
abuse
prisoners, to
abuse
one's powers, one's patience
.
3.
To revile; to reproach coarsely; to disparage.
The . . . tellers of news
abused
the general.
Macaulay.
4.
To dishonor.
“Shall flight abuse your name?”
Shak.
5.
To violate; to ravish.
Spenser.
6.
To deceive; to impose on.
[Obs.]
Their eyes red and staring, cozened with a moist cloud, and
abused
by a double object.
Jer. Taylor.
Syn. – To maltreat; injure; revile; reproach; vilify; vituperate; asperse; traduce; malign.

A-buse′

,
Noun.
[F.
abus
, L.
abusus
, fr.
abuti
. See
Abuse
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
Improper treatment or use; application to a wrong or bad purpose; misuse;
as, an
abuse of our natural powers
;
an abuse
of civil rights, or of privileges or advantages; an
abuse
of language.
Liberty may be endangered by the
abuses
of liberty, as well as by the
abuses
of power.
Madison.
2.
Physical ill treatment; injury.
“Rejoice . . . at the abuse of Falstaff.”
Shak.
3.
A corrupt practice or custom; offense; crime; fault;
as, the
abuses
in the civil service
.
Abuse
after disappeared without a struggle..
Macaulay.
4.
Vituperative words; coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; virulent condemnation; reviling.
The two parties, after exchanging a good deal of
abuse
, came to blows.
Macaulay.
5.
Violation; rape;
as,
abuse
of a female child
.
[Obs.]
Or is it some
abuse
, and no such thing?
Shakespeare
Abuse of distress
(Law)
,
a wrongful using of an animal or chattel distrained, by the distrainer.
Syn. – Invective; contumely; reproach; scurrility; insult; opprobrium.
Abuse
,
Invective
. Abuse is generally prompted by anger, and vented in harsh and unseemly words. It is more personal and coarse than invective. Abuse generally takes place in private quarrels; invective in writing or public discussions. Invective may be conveyed in refined language and dictated by indignation against what is blameworthy.
C. J. Smith.

Webster 1828 Edition


Abuse

ABU'SE

,
Verb.
T.
s as z. [L. abutor, abusus of ab and utor, to use; Gr. to accustom. See Use.]
1.
To use ill; to maltreat; to misuse; to use with bad motives or to wrong purposes; as, to abuse rights or privileges.
They that use this world as not abusing it. 1Cor. vii.
2.
To violate; to defile by improper sexual intercourse.
3.
To deceive; to impose on.
Nor be with all these tempting words abused.
4.
To treat rudely, or with reproachful language; to revile.
He mocked and abused them shamefully.
5.
To pervert the meaning of; to misapply; as to abuse words.

ABU'SE

,
Noun.
Ill use; improper treatment or employment; application to a wrong purpose; as an abuse of our natural powers; an abuse of civil rights, or of religious privileges; abuse of advantages, &c.
Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty, as well as by the abuses of power.
2.
A corrupt practice or custom, as the abuses of government.
3.
Rude speech; reproachful language addressed to a person; contumely; reviling words.
4.
Seduction.
After the abuse he forsook me.
5.
Perversion of meaning; improper use or application; as an abuse of words.

Definition 2024


abuse

abuse

See also: abusé

English

Pronunciation

Noun

abuse (countable and uncountable, plural abuses)

  1. Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
    All abuse, whether physical, verbal, psychological or sexual, is bad.
  2. Misuse; improper use; perversion. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]
    • 1788, Federalist, James Madison, Number 63
      Liberty may be endangered by the abuses of liberty, as well as by the abuses of power.
    • 2012 March-April, Jan Sapp, “Race Finished”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 164:
      Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?
  3. (obsolete) A delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the mid 17th century.]
  4. Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]
    • 1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The history of England: from the accession of James the Second, volume 9, page 153:
      The two parties, after exchanging a good deal of abuse, came to blows.
  5. (now rare)   Catachresis. [First attested in the late 16th century.]
  6. Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment. [First attested in the late 16th century.]
  7. Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis. [First attested in the late 16th century.]
Usage notes
  • (misuse, perversion): Typically followed by the word of.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English abusen, from Middle French abuser, from Latin abūsus (misused, using up), perfect active participle of abūtor (to use up, misuse, consume), from ab (from, away from) + ūtor (to use).[2][1]

Pronunciation

Verb

abuse (third-person singular simple present abuses, present participle abusing, simple past and past participle abused)

  1. (transitive) To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to misuse; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert; as, to abuse one's authority. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
    • 1856, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the defeat of the Spanish Armada, volume 1, published 1870, page 353:
      This principle (if we may so abuse the word) shot rapidly into popularity
  2. (transitive) To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]
    • (Can we date this quote?), R. S. Thomas, At It:
      And I would have things to say to this God at the judgement, storming at him, as Job stormed with the eloquence of the abused heart.
  3. (transitive) To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage. [First attested in the early 17th century.]
  4. (transitive) To imbibe a drug for a purpose other than it was intended; to intentionally take more of a drug than was prescribed for recreational reasons; to take illegal drugs habitually. [First attested in the mid 20th century.]
  5. (transitive, archaic) To violate; defile; to rape. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
  6. (transitive, obsolete) Misrepresent; adulterate. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the mid 18th century.]
  7. (transitive, obsolete) To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of. [Attested from the late 15th century until the early 19th century.]
    • 1651-2, Jeremy Taylor, "Sermon VI, The House of Feasting; or, The Epicures Measures", in The works of Jeremy Taylor, Volume 1, page 283 (1831), edited by Thomas Smart Hughes
      When Cyrus had espied Astyages and his fellows coming drunk from a banquet loaden with variety of follies and filthiness, their legs failing them, their eyes red and staring, cozened with a moist cloud and abused by a double object
  8. (transitive, obsolete, Scotland) Disuse. [Attested from the late 15th century until the mid 16th century.]
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

References

  • Lesley Brown (editor), The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition (Oxford University Press, 2003 [1933], ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7), page 10

[2]

  1. 1 2 Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], ISBN 0-87779-101-5), page 8
  2. 1 2 William Morris (editor), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1971 [1969]; American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.; ISBN 0-395-09066-0), page 6

Anagrams


French

Verb

abuse

  1. first-person singular present indicative of abuser
  2. third-person singular present indicative of abuser
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of abuser
  4. first-person singular present subjunctive of abuser
  5. second-person singular imperative of abuser

Anagrams


Latin

Participle

abūse

  1. vocative masculine singular of abūsus

Portuguese

Verb

abuse

  1. first-person singular present subjunctive of abusar
  2. third-person singular present subjunctive of abusar
  3. first-person singular imperative of abusar
  4. third-person singular imperative of abusar

Spanish

Verb

abuse

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of abusar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of abusar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of abusar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of abusar.