Definitions for abuse
əˈbyuz; əˈbyusabuse

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. maltreatment, ill-treatment, ill-usage, abuse(noun)

   cruel or inhumane treatment

   "the child showed signs of physical abuse"

2. abuse, insult, revilement, contumely, vilification(noun)

   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"

3. misuse, abuse(verb)

   improper or excessive use

   "alcohol abuse"; "the abuse of public funds"

4. mistreat, maltreat, abuse, ill-use, step, ill-treat(verb)

   treat badly

   "This boss abuses his workers"; "She is always stepping on others to get ahead"

5. pervert, misuse, abuse(verb)

   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"

6. abuse, clapperclaw, blackguard, shout(verb)

   use foul or abusive language towards

   "The actress abused the policeman who gave her a parking ticket"; "The angry mother shouted at the teacher"

7. abuse(verb)

   use wrongly or improperly or excessively

   "Her husband often abuses alcohol"; "while she was pregnant, she abused drugs"

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Abuse(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; as, to abuse inherited gold; to make an excessive use of; as, to abuse one's authority

2. Abuse(verb)

   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. Abuse(verb)

   to revile; to reproach coarsely; to disparage

4. Abuse(verb)

   to dishonor

5. Abuse(verb)

   to violate; to ravish

6. Abuse(verb)

   to deceive; to impose on

7. Abuse(verb)

   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

8. Abuse(verb)

   physical ill treatment; injury

9. Abuse(verb)

   a corrupt practice or custom; offense; crime; fault; as, the abuses in the civil service

10. Abuse(verb)

    vituperative words; coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; virulent condemnation; reviling

11. Abuse(verb)

    violation; rape; as, abuse of a female child

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Abuse

   Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of an entity, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, rape, unjust practices; wrongful practice or custom; offense; crime, or otherwise verbal aggression.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Abuse

   ab-ūz′, v.t. to use wrongly: to pervert: to revile: to violate.—ns. Abuse (ab-ūs′), ill use: misapplication: reproach: vituperation; Abū′sion (Spens.), abuse: deception: reproach.—adj. Abus′ive, containing or practising abuse: full of abuses: vituperative.—adv. Abus′ively.—n. Abus′iveness. [L. ab, away (from what is right), uti, usus, to use.]

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'abuse' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3044

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'abuse' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3063

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'abuse' in Nouns Frequency: #1191

4. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'abuse' in Verbs Frequency: #989

Anagrams for abuse »

1. Beaus

How to pronounce abuse?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say abuse in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of abuse in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of abuse in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of abuse in a Sentence

1. Director General Tony Hall:

   A member of staff -- who is a completely innocent party -- took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature. For me a line has been crossed.

2. Lincoln Steffens:

   Power is what men seek, and any group that gets it will abuse it. It is the same story.

3. Aarefa Johari:

   Even where the physical injury is no longer severe, the psychological trauma is really long-lasting, we've heard from a lot of women who experience and remember the trauma as a form of sexual abuse.

4. Hulya Gulbahar:

   In a majority of Turkey's female abuse cases, the perpetrators receive mitigations in their sentences due to court's detection of consent granted by the victim, in some cases, wearing a miniskirt or some cleavage got the woman's rapist mitigation in his punishment, while in some cases the consent was attached to her wearing red.

5. Wendell Berry:

   If we are to hope to correct our abuses of each other and of other races and of our land, and if our effort to correct these abuses is to be more than a political fad that will in the long run be only another form of abuse, then we are going to have to go far beyond public protest and political action. We are going to have to rebuild the substance and the integrity of private life in this country. We are going to have to gather up the fragments of knowledge and responsibility that we have parceled out to the bureaus and the corporations and the specialists, and we are going to have to put those fragments back together again in our own minds and in our families and households and neighborhoods...We need persons and households that do not have to wait upon organizations but can make necessary changes in themselves, on their own.

Images & Illustrations of abuse

Popularity rank by frequency of use