Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To use improperly or excessively; misuse.
- transitive verb To hurt or injure by maltreatment; ill-use.
- transitive verb To force sexual activity on; rape or molest.
- transitive verb To assail with insulting or hurtful words; revile.
- transitive verb Obsolete To deceive or trick.
- noun Improper or excessive use; misuse.
- noun Rough treatment or use.
- noun Physical maltreatment or violence.
- noun Sexual abuse.
- noun Insulting or hurtful language, especially when used to threaten or demoralize.
- noun An unjust or wrongful practice.
- idiom (abuse oneself) To masturbate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To use ill; misuse; put to a wrong or bad use; divert from the proper use; misapply: as, to
abuse rights or privileges; to abuse words. - To do wrong to; act injuriously toward; injure; disgrace; dishonor.
- To violate; ravish; defile. To attack with contumelious language; revile. To deceive; impose on; mislead.
- Synonyms To Abuse, Misuse, misapply, misemploy, pervert, profane. Abuse and misuse are closely synonymous terms, but misuse conveys more particularly the idea of using inappropriately, abuse that of treating injuriously. In general, abuse is the stronger word.
- To maltreat, ill-use, injure. To revile, reproach, vilify, rate, berate, vituperate, rail at.
- noun Ill use; improper treatment or employment; application to a wrong purpose; improper use or application: as, an abuse of our natural powers; an abuse of civil rights, or of religious privileges; abuse of advantages; abuse of words.
- noun Ill treatment of a person; injury; insult; dishonor; especially, ill treatment in words; contumelious language.
- noun A corrupt practice or custom; an offense; a crime; a fault: as, the abuses of government.
- noun Violation; defilement: as, self-abuse. Deception.
- noun Abuse, Invective, maltreatment, outrage; vituperation, contumely, scolding, reviling, aspersion, slander, obloquy. (See
invective .) “ Abuse as compared with invective is more personal and coarse, being conveyed in harsh and unseemly terms, and dictated by angry feeling and bitter temper. Invective is more commonly aimed at character or conduct, and may be conveyed in writing and in refined language, and dictated by indignation against what is in itself blameworthy. It often, however, means public abuse under such restraints as are imposed by position and education.”
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb 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; ; to make an excessive use of.
- transitive verb To use ill; to maltreat; to act injuriously to; to punish or to tax excessively; to hurt.
- transitive verb To revile; to reproach coarsely; to disparage.
- transitive verb To dishonor.
- transitive verb To violate; to ravish.
- transitive verb obsolete To deceive; to impose on.
- noun Improper treatment or use; application to a wrong or bad purpose; misuse
- noun Physical ill treatment; injury.
- noun A corrupt practice or custom; offense; crime; fault.
- noun Vituperative words; coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; virulent condemnation; reviling.
- noun obsolete Violation; rape.
- noun (Law) a wrongful using of an animal or chattel distrained, by the distrainer.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a rude expression intended to offend or hurt
- verb use wrongly or improperly or excessively
- verb change the inherent purpose or function of something
- verb use foul or abusive language towards
- noun improper or excessive use
- noun cruel or inhumane treatment
- verb treat badly
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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This jackass didn't do this out of the blue like many abusers who are moderate then get extreme; this level of abuse ** was the pattern of abuse** for this poor girl.
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_truth_ abuse them? does the _exposition_ of the _foulest combination_ that ever disgraced this or any other county, _constitute abuse_?
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To the previous facts you are a witness, and best know how far my recapitulation is correct; and I request that you will inform Mr. Perry from me, that I wonder he should permit such an abuse of my name in his paper; I say an _abuse_, because my absence, at least, demands some respect, and my presence and positive sanction could alone justify him in such a proceeding, even were the lines mine; and if false, there are no words for him.
Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 3 (of 6) With His Letters and Journals Thomas Moore 1815
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When most people hear of the term abuse, they do not think about being slapped, being chilly, being ignored or, for that matter, having someone stare at you in the shower.
Talk To Action 2009
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Opponents of the resolution have pointed to what they call the abuse of a Security Council resolution they supported to set up a no-fly zone over Libya in February that was ostensibly to protect civilians against the repression of Col.
Russia, China Veto U.N.'s Syria Move Joe Lauria 2011
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The idea of subjecting every US citizen to this abuse is abhorrent.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Words I never expected to write 2010
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Because they often insult the pride of the listener rather than disparaging his or her reputation, vituperative epithets that are intended as mere abuse and are understood as such by the hearer are not actionable in defamation, although other causes of action in tort may arise if the abuse is accompanied by physical aggression or psychiatric or other physical injury.
Archive 2009-10-01 2009
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How widespread do you think the abuse is and is there any way to safeguard against it better?
A Conversation with Jane Smiley about her novel Good Faith 2010
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By the time Farouq was released from Guantanamo the next year, however — after more than 12 months of what he described as abuse and humiliation at the hands of American soldiers — he'd made connections to high-level militants.
Rudy Lives! He Resurfaces To Attack Obama Over -- What Else -- September 11th 2009
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Tonight, Jon Gosselin speaks out about what he calls abuse by his estranged wife, Kate.
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Noelle Martin is a survivor of image-based abuse, a term that covers the sharing of nonconsensual sexual images and explicit deepfakes.
Inside the Taylor Swift deepfake scandal: ‘It’s men telling a powerful woman to get back in her box’ Emine Saner 2024
john commented on the word abuse
I just nuked that abusive Basil account--sorry for the gap in the historical record I just created. What's going on here? I'm like The Hammer these days :-)
November 5, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word abuse
See sound lantern for an explanation of what happened, John.
November 5, 2008
vanishedone commented on the word abuse
I was going to suggest having a more prominent link to promotion somewhere, maybe on a landing page for new Wordie accounts, but since Basil clearly didn't look around much I wonder whether that would really have helped.
November 5, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word abuse
Thanks, John--particularly on what must be a crazy day for you at work. I don't think your protection of the site's original purpose should be considered particularly heavy-handed....
Hammer Man. ;)
November 5, 2008
dontcry commented on the word abuse
Hammer time! *cues music* "Can't touch this..."
November 5, 2008
vanishedone commented on the word abuse
Are we keeping ebaysalvageyard, then? There's probably a spare pedestal next to Mi-Vox and Friday.
November 5, 2008
reesetee commented on the word abuse
Let's see...*muttering*...a little teapot, Japanese schoolgirl, The Hammer...
I'm sure I've missed some. ;-)
November 5, 2008