Adjacent Words

Abuse definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ABU'SE, v.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. 1 Corinthians 7.
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, n. 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, etc.
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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: cruel or inhumane treatment; "the child showed signs of physical abuse" [syn: maltreatment, ill-treatment, ill-usage, abuse]
2: a rude expression intended to offend or hurt; "when a student made a stupid mistake he spared them no abuse"; "they yelled insults at the visiting team" [syn: abuse, insult, revilement, contumely, vilification]
3: improper or excessive use; "alcohol abuse"; "the abuse of public funds" [syn: misuse, abuse] v
1: treat badly; "This boss abuses his workers"; "She is always stepping on others to get ahead" [syn: mistreat, maltreat, abuse, ill-use, step, ill-treat]
2: change the inherent purpose or function of something; "Don't abuse the system"; "The director of the factory misused the funds intended for the health care of his workers" [syn: pervert, misuse, abuse]
3: use foul or abusive language towards; "The actress abused the policeman who gave her a parking ticket"; "The angry mother shouted at the teacher" [syn: abuse, clapperclaw, blackguard, shout]
4: use wrongly or improperly or excessively; "Her husband often abuses alcohol"; "while she was pregnant, she abused drugs"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French abus, from Latin abusus, from abuti to consume, from ab- + uti to use Date: 15th century 1. a corrupt practice or custom 2. improper or excessive use or treatment ; misuse <drug abuse> <abuse of tranquilizers> 3. obsolete a deceitful act ; deception 4. language that condemns or vilifies usually unjustly, intemperately, and angrily 5. physical maltreatment Synonyms: abuse, vituperation, invective, obloquy, billingsgate mean vehemently expressed condemnation or disapproval. abuse the most general term, usually implies the anger of the speaker and stresses the harshness of the language <scathing verbal abuse>. vituperation implies fluent and sustained abuse <a torrent of vituperation>. invective implies a comparable vehemence but suggests greater verbal and rhetorical skill and may apply to a public denunciation <blistering political invective>. obloquy suggests defamation and consequent shame and disgrace <subjected to obloquy and derision>. billingsgate implies practiced fluency and variety of profane or obscene abuse <directed a stream of billingsgate at the cabdriver>. II. transitive verb (abused; abusing) Date: 15th century 1. a. to put to a wrong or improper use <abuse a privilege> b. to use excessively <abuse alcohol>; also to use without medical justification <abuseing painkillers> 2. obsolete deceive 3. to use so as to injure or damage ; maltreat 4. to attack in words ; revile • abusable adjective • abuser noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 use to bad effect or for a bad purpose; misuse (abused his position of power). 2 insult verbally. 3 maltreat. --n. 1 a incorrect or improper use (the abuse of power). b an instance of this. 2 insulting language (a torrent of abuse). 3 unjust or corrupt practice. 4 maltreatment of a person (child abuse). Derivatives: abuser n. Etymology: ME f. OF abus (n.), abuser (v.) f. L abusus, abuti (as AB-, uti us- USE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Abuse A*buse", v. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Abuse A*buse", n. [F. abus, L. abusus, fr. abuti. See Abuse, v. 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? --Shak. Abuse of distress (Law), a wrongful using of an animal or chattel distrained, by the distrainer. Syn: Invective; contumely; reproach; scurrility; insult; opprobrium. Usage: 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(abused) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Abuse of someone is cruel and violent treatment of them. ...investigation of alleged child abuse. ...victims of sexual and physical abuse. ...controversy over human rights abuses. N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl, usu with supp 2. Abuse is extremely rude and insulting things that people say when they are angry. I was left shouting abuse as the car sped off... 3. Abuse of something is the use of it in a wrong way or for a bad purpose. What went on here was an abuse of power. ...drug and alcohol abuse. N-VAR: with supp 4. If someone is abused, they are treated cruelly and violently. Janet had been abused by her father since she was eleven. ...parents who feel they cannot cope or might abuse their children. ...those who work with abused children. VERB: be V-ed, V n, V-ed • abuser (abusers) ...a convicted child abuser. N-COUNT 5. You can say that someone is abused if extremely rude and insulting things are said to them. He alleged that he was verbally abused by other soldiers. = insult VERB: be V-ed, also V n 6. If you abuse something, you use it in a wrong way or for a bad purpose. He showed how the rich and powerful can abuse their position. VERB: V n • abuser ...the treatment of alcohol and drug abusers. N-COUNT

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

a-buz': "To dishonor," "to make mock of," "to insult," etc.

(1) Translated in the Old Testament from `alal, "to do harm," "to defile" (Jud 19:25), "to make mock of" (1Sa 31:4).

(2) Translated in the New Testament from arsenokoites, literally, "one who lies with a male," "a sodomite" (1Co 6:9; 1Ti 1:10; the King James Version "for them that defile themselves with mankind").

(3) In the King James Version 1Co 7:31 "as not abusing it," from katachraomai, "to abuse," i.e. misuse; the Revised Version (British and American) "using it to the full," also 1Co 9:18.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Misuse, misemploy, misapply, pervert, prostitute, desecrate, dishonor, profane, pollute, make an ill use of, deceive, impose on, betray, cajole, seduce by cajolery. 2. Maltreat, harm, injure, hurt, ill-treat, ill-use. 3. Revile, reproach, vilify, slander, traduce, defame, asperse, inveigh against, carp at, malign, blacken, disparage, berate, rate, betongue, upbraid, calumniate, lampoon, satirize, lash, pasquinade, rail at, sneer at, speak ill of, calumniate, treat with contumely, pour contumely on. See vituperate. 4. Violate, outrage, ravish, deflour. II. n. 1. Misapplication, misuse, misemployment, dishonor, dishonoring, profanation, prostitution, desecration, pollution, perversion, ill-use. 2. Maltreatment, outrage, ill-treatment, bad treatment. 3. Corrupt practice, malfeasance, malversation. 4. Vituperation, railing, reviling, vilification, defamation, aspersion, disparagement, rating, upbraiding, contumely, obloquy, opprobrium, insult, scurrility, ribaldry, foul invective, rude reproach, billingsgate.

Moby Thesaurus

abuse of office, addiction, afflict, aggrieve, assail, assailing, assault, atrocity, attack, bark at, batter, befoul, befoulment, belittle, berate, berating, betongue, betray, betrayal, bewitch, billingsgate, bitter words, blacken, blackening, blackguard, blaspheme, bleed, bleed white, blight, bruise, buffet, call names, calumniate, calumniation, calumny, catachresis, censure, condemn, contumely, conversion, convert, corrupt, corrupt administration, corruption, criminal assault, crucify, curse, cursing, cuss out, damage, damn, debase, debasement, debauch, debauchment, deceive, decry, defalcate, defalcation, defamation, defame, defile, defilement, defloration, deflower, deflowering, dependence, deprave, deprecate, depreciate, derogate, desecrate, desecration, despoil, despoilment, destroy, detract from, diatribe, disadvantage, discount, disparage, dispraise, disserve, distress, diversion, divert, do a mischief, do evil, do ill, do violence to, do wrong, do wrong by, do wrong to, doom, drain, embezzle, embezzlement, envenom, epithet, epithetize, execrate, execration, exploit, fault, force, foul, fouling, fulminate against, get into trouble, harass, hard words, harm, hex, hurt, ill use, ill-treat, ill-treatment, ill-usage, ill-use, impair, impose, impose upon, imprecation, infect, injure, injury, insult, invective, jaw, jawing, jeremiad, jinx, knock about, lambaste, lead astray, libel, load with reproaches, make use of, maladminister, maladministration, malediction, malfeasance, malign, maligning, malpractice, maltreat, maltreatment, malversation, manhandle, manipulate, mar, masturbation, maul, menace, mess up, milk, minimize, misapplication, misapply, misappropriate, misappropriation, misconduct, misemploy, misemployment, misfeasance, mishandle, mishandling, mislead, mismanage, mismanagement, mistreat, mistreatment, misusage, misuse, molest, molestation, mud, objurgate, objurgation, obloquy, onslaught, oppress, opprobrium, outrage, peculate, peculation, persecute, perversion, pervert, philippic, pilfer, pilfering, play havoc with, play hob with, play on, poison, pollute, pollution, poor stewardship, prejudice, presume upon, priapism, profanation, profane, profanity, prostitute, prostitution, rag, rail at, railing, rape, rate, rating, ravage, rave against, ravish, ravishment, rebuke, reproach, revile, revilement, reviling, rough, rough up, ruin, savage, scathe, scold, scolding, screed, scurrility, seduce, seducement, seduction, self-abuse, sexual assault, slander, soil, spoil, stroke, suck dry, sully, swear, swear at, swearing, taint, take advantage of, threaten, thunder against, tirade, tongue-lash, tongue-lashing, torment, torture, traduce, upbraid, upbraiding, use, use ill, vilification, vilify, violate, violation, violence, vituperate, vituperation, work on, work upon, wound, wreak havoc on, write off, wrong, yell at, yelp at