Associations to the word «Abuse»

ABUSE, noun. Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]

ABUSE, noun. Misuse; improper use; perversion. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]

ABUSE, noun. (obsolete) A delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception. [Attested from the mid 16th century until the mid 17th century.]

ABUSE, noun. Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]

ABUSE, noun. (now) (rare)   Catachresis. [First attested in the late 16th century.]

ABUSE, noun. Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment. [First attested in the late 16th century.]

ABUSE, noun. Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis. [First attested in the late 16th century.]

ABUSE, verb. (transitive) To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to misuse; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert; as, to abuse one's authority. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]

ABUSE, verb. (transitive) To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly. [First attested in the mid 16th century.]

ABUSE, verb. (transitive) To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage. [First attested in the early 17th century.]

ABUSE, verb. (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. [First attested in the mid 20th century.]

ABUSE, verb. (transitive) (archaic) To violate; defile; to rape. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]

ABUSE, verb. (transitive) (obsolete) Misrepresent; adulterate. [Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the mid 18th century.]

ABUSE, verb. (transitive) (obsolete) To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of. [Attested from the late 15th century until the early 19th century.]

ABUSE, verb. (transitive) (obsolete) (Scotland) Disuse. [Attested from the late 15th century until the mid 16th century.]

ABUSE OF DISCRETION, noun. (legal) The rendering of a decision by a court that is so unreasonable in light of the facts of the case or is such an unreasonable deviation from legal precedent that it must be reversed.

ABUSE OF DISCRETION, noun. (legal) Any action by a government official by which that official renders decisions for a clearly improper purpose.

ABUSE OF DISTRESS, noun. (idiomatic) (legal) a wrongful using of an animal or chattel distrained, by the distrainer

ABUSE OF NOTATION, noun. (math) The use of a mathematical notation in a way that is not formally correct but seems likely to simplify the exposition or suggest the correct intuition.

ABUSE OF PROCESS, noun. A cause of action in tort arising from one party making a malicious and deliberate misuse or perversion of regularly issued court process (civil or criminal) not justified by the underlying legal action.

ABUSE, noun. Cruel or inhumane treatment; "the child showed signs of physical abuse".

ABUSE, 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".

ABUSE, noun. Improper or excessive use; "alcohol abuse"; "the abuse of public funds".

ABUSE, verb. Treat badly; "This boss abuses his workers"; "She is always stepping on others to get ahead".

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 foul or abusive language towards; "The actress abused the policeman who gave her a parking ticket"; "The angry mother shouted at the teacher".

ABUSE, verb. Use wrongly or improperly or excessively; "Her husband often abuses alcohol"; "while she was pregnant, she abused drugs".