ABUSING
Verb
abusing
present participle of abuse
Anagrams
• gunbais
Source: Wiktionary
ABUSE
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