How to pronounce “abuse”

Meaning

• [Noun]
• Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom. [from around 1350 to 1470]
• Misuse; improper use; perversion. [from mid-16th c.]
• (obsolete) A delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception. [mid-16th–mid-17th c.]
• Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies. [from mid-16th c.]
• (now rare) Catachresis. [from late 16th c.]
• Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment. [from late 16th c.]
• Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis. [from late 16th c.]
• [Verb]
• (transitive) To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert [from around 1350 to 1470.]
• (transitive) To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly. [from mid-16th c.]
• (transitive) To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage. [from early 17th c.]
• (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. [from mid-20th c.]
• (transitive, archaic) To violate; defile; to rape; (reflexive) to masturbate. [from around 1350 to 1470]
• (transitive, obsolete) Misrepresent; adulterate. [from ca. 1350—1470 to mid-18th c.]
• (transitive, obsolete) To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of. [from late 15th–early 19th c.]
• (transitive, obsolete, Scotland) Disuse. [from late 15th c.–mid 16th c.]

Practice Nearby Words

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Similar Sounds

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