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Abuse   /əbjˈus/  /əbjˈuz/   Listen
noun
Abuse  n.  
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."
2.
Physical ill treatment; injury. "Rejoice... at the abuse of Falstaff."
3.
A corrupt practice or custom; offense; crime; fault; as, the abuses in the civil service. "Abuse after disappeared without a struggle.."
4.
Vituperative words; coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; virulent condemnation; reviling. "The two parties, after exchanging a good deal of abuse, came to blows."
5.
Violation; rape; as, abuse of a female child. (Obs.) "Or is it some abuse, and no such thing?"
Abuse of distress (Law), a wrongful using of an animal or chattel distrained, by the distrainer.
Synonyms: 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.



verb
Abuse  v. t.  (past & past part. abused; pres. part. abusing)  
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."
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."
4.
To dishonor. "Shall flight abuse your name?"
5.
To violate; to ravish.
6.
To deceive; to impose on. (Obs.) "Their eyes red and staring, cozened with a moist cloud, and abused by a double object."
Synonyms: To maltreat; injure; revile; reproach; vilify; vituperate; asperse; traduce; malign.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Abuse" Quotes from Famous Books



... further heed to him, but the speaker mounted the steps of the meeting-house and harangued the natives in a strain of rude and passionate declamation, in which my host, the aristocrats, and the Secessionists came in for about equal shares of abuse. Seeing that the native (who, it appeared, was quite popular as a stump-speaker) was drawing away his audience, the Colonel descended from the driver's seat, and motioning for me to follow, entered the carriage. Turning the horses homeward, we rode ...
— Continental Monthly, Vol. I, No. VI, June, 1862 - Devoted To Literature and National Policy • Various

... cannot even report to another person,—by his attitude, his look, his voice,—when he insults, when he attacks as an enemy, when he smites with his fist, when he strikes a blow on the face. These rouse a man; these make a man beside himself who is unused to such foul abuse." ...
— Essays and Miscellanies - The Complete Works Volume 3 • Plutarch

... confined to that portion of the cecum that gives attachment to the appendix there may be no pain, or the pain may not be intense, and because of this lack of intensity, the patient tolerates abuse in the line of drugging and feeding until an abscess forms, the walls of which surround the appendix which is inflamed and often gangrenous. About this time, on account of the gradual increase in swelling, the pressure brings obstruction, partial or complete, causing the symptoms ...
— Appendicitis: The Etiology, Hygenic and Dietetic Treatment • John H. Tilden, M.D.

... piece to drop through the right hand to the ground, or other similar abuse of the rifle to produce effect in ...
— Infantry Drill Regulations, United States Army, 1911 - Corrected to April 15, 1917 (Changes Nos. 1 to 19) • United States War Department

... overwork and worry, and I am paying for my bed and what I don't eat, principally, by attempting her work. It scarcely would be fair to Uncle Henry to say that I do it. I stagger around as long as I can stand, then I sit through his abuse. He is a pleasant man. Please don't think I am telling you this to harrow your sympathy further. The reason I explain is because I am driven. If I do not, you will misjudge me when I say that I only can see you here. I ...
— The Harvester • Gene Stratton Porter


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