Link Centre Dictionary

abuse

UK/əˈbjuːz/ US/əˈbjuz/ common
verb (3) noun (3)

verb

1.

treat badly

  • “This boss abuses his workers”
  • “She is always stepping on others to get ahead”
Synonyms
2.

change the inherent purpose or function of something

  • “Don”
  • “;”
Synonyms
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”
Synonyms

noun

1.
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”
Synonyms
3.

improper or excessive use

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English abusen, then from either Old French abus (“improper use”), or from Latin abūsus (“misused, using up”), perfect active participle of abūtor (“make improper use of, consume, abuse”), from ab (“away”) + ūtor (“to use”). Equivalent to ab- + use.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.