maltreatment, ill-treatment, ill-usage, abuse
(noun) cruel or inhumane treatment; “the child showed signs of physical abuse”
misuse, abuse
(noun) improper or excessive use; “alcohol abuse”; “the abuse of public funds”
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”
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”
abuse
(verb) use wrongly or improperly or excessively; “Her husband often abuses alcohol”; “while she was pregnant, she abused drugs”
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”
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”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
abuse (countable and uncountable, plural abuses)
Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom. [from around 1350 to 1470]
Synonym: misuse
Misuse; improper use; perversion. [from mid 16th c.]
(obsolete) A delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception. [from mid 16th c. – mid 17th c.]
Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies. [from mid 16th c.]
Synonyms: invective, contumely, reproach, scurrility, insult, opprobrium
(now, rare) Catachresis. [from late 16th c.]
Synonym: abusio
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.]
• (misuse, perversion): Typically followed by the word of.
abuse (third-person singular simple present abuses, present participle abusing, simple past and past participle abused)
(transitive) To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to misuse; 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.]
Synonyms: maltreat, injure
(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.]
Synonyms: revile, reproach, vilify, vituperate, Thesaurus:offend
(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. [from around 1350 to 1470]
(transitive, obsolete) Misrepresent; adulterate. [from around 1350 to 1470 – mid 18th c.]
(transitive, obsolete) To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of. [from late 15th c. – early 19th c.]
(transitive, obsolete, Scotland) Disuse. [from late 15th century – mid 16th c.]
• aubes, beaus
Source: Wiktionary
A*buse", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abused; p. pr. & vb. n. Abusing.] Etym: [F. abuser; L. abusus, p. p. of abuti to abuse, misuse; ab + uti to use. See Use.]
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. Froude.
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. Macaulay.
4. To dishonor. "Shall flight abuse your name" Shak.
5. To violate; to ravish. Spenser.
6. To deceive; to impose on. [Obs.] Their eyes red and staring, cozened with a moist cloud, and abused by a double object. Jer. Taylor.
Syn.
– To maltreat; injure; revile; reproach; vilify; vituperate; asperse; traduce; malign.
A*buse", n. Etym: [F. abus, L. abusus, fr. abuti. See Abuse, v. t.]
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. Madison.
2. Physical ill treatment; injury. "Rejoice . . . at the abuse of Falstaff." Shak.
3. A corrupt practice or custom; offense; crime; fault; as, the abuses in the civil service. Abuse after disappeared without a struggle.. Macaulay.
4. Vituperative words; coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; virulent condemnation; reviling. The two parties, after exchanging a good deal of abuse, came to blows. Macaulay.
5. Violation; rape; as, abuse of a female child. [Obs.] Or is it some abuse, and no such thing Shak. Abuse of distress (Law), a wrongful using of an animal or chattel distrained, by the distrainer.
Syn.
– 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. C. J. Smith.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
23 December 2024
(noun) Australian tree having hard white timber and glossy green leaves with white flowers followed by one-seeded glossy blue fruit
Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.
