A*buse" (#), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abused (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Abusing.] [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.
© Webster 1913.
A*buse" (#), n. [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.
© Webster 1913.