| Title | abuse | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Text |
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary abuse
ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Middle French abus, from Latin abusus, from abuti to consume, from ab- + uti to use DATE 15th century 1. a corrupt practice or custom 2. improper or excessive use or treatment : misuse drug abuse abuse of tranquilizers 3. obsolete : a deceitful act : deception 4. language that condemns or vilifies usually unjustly, intemperately, and angrily 5. physical maltreatment Synonyms. abuse , vituperation , invective , obloquy , billingsgate mean vehemently expressed condemnation or disapproval. abuse , the most general term, usually implies the anger of the speaker and stresses the harshness of the language scathing verbal abuse vituperation implies fluent and sustained abuse a torrent of vituperation invective implies a comparable vehemence but suggests greater verbal and rhetorical skill and may apply to a public denunciation blistering political invective obloquy suggests defamation and consequent shame and disgrace subjected to obloquy and derision billingsgate implies practiced fluency and variety of profane or obscene abuse directed a stream of billingsgate at the cabdriver
(abused ; abus·ing) DATE 15th century 1. a. to put to a wrong or improper use abuse a privilege b. to use excessively abuse alcohol also : to use without medical justification abuseing painkillers 2. obsolete : deceive 3. to use so as to injure or damage : maltreat 4. to attack in words : revile • abus·er noun English Etymology abuse abuse (v.) early 15c., from M.Fr . abuser, from V.L. *abusare, from L. abusus, pp. of abuti "use up," also "misuse," from ab-"away" + uti "use" (see use). Specifically of drugs, from 1968. The noun is first recorded mid-15c., from Fr. abus (14c.).http://M.Fr Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 ☞ abuse abuse noun/ E5bju:s / 1. [U, sing.] ~ (of sth) the use of sth in a way that is wrong or harmful 滥用；妄用 SYN misuse :
alcohol / drug / solvent abuse 酗酒；嗜毒；嗜吸胶毒 He was arrested on charges of corruption and abuse of power. 他因被控贪污腐化和滥用职权而遭逮捕。 The system of paying cash bonuses is open to abuse (= might be used in the wrong way). 支付现金红利制度可能被人钻空子。 What she did was an abuse of her position as manager. 她的所作所为是滥用经理职权。 2. [U, pl.] unfair, cruel or violent treatment of sb 虐待: child abuse 虐待儿童 sexual abuse 性虐待 reported abuses by the secret police 已举报的秘密警察虐待行为 She suffered years of physical abuse. 她遭受了多年的肉体摧残。 3. [U] rude and offensive remarks, usually made when sb is very angry 辱骂；恶语: to scream / hurl / shout abuse 高声谩骂；破口大骂；大声辱骂 a stream / torrent of abuse 不断辱骂；劈头盖脸一通臭骂 SYN insults verb/ E5bju:z /
▪ [VN] 1. to make bad use of sth, or to use so much of sth that it harms your health 滥用: to abuse alcohol / drugs 酗酒；嗜毒 He systematically abused his body with heroin and cocaine. 他因吸服海洛因和可卡因一步一步地把身体搞垮了。 2. to use power or knowledge unfairly or wrongly 滥用,妄用(权力、所知所闻): She abused her position as principal by giving jobs to her friends. 她滥用自己作为校长的职权,把工作安排给朋友们。 He felt they had abused his trust by talking about him to the press (= tricked him, although he had trusted them). 他觉得他们向报界透露有关他的情况是辜负了他的信任。 3. to treat a person or an animal in a cruel or violent way, especially sexually 虐待；性虐待；伤害: All the children had been physically and emotionally abused. 所有这些儿童的身心都受到了摧残。 He had abused his own daughter (= had sex with her). 他曾奸污了自己的亲生女儿。 The boy had been sexually abused. 这个男孩曾遭受过性虐待。 4. to make rude or offensive remarks to or about sb 辱骂；恶语伤人；诋譭 SYN insult :
The referee had been threatened and abused. 裁判遭到了恐吓和谩骂。 • ab·user noun: a drug abuser 嗜毒者 a child abuser 虐待儿童者 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English abuse verb ADV. emotionally, mentally, physically, sexually, verbally All the children had been physically and emotionally abused. OLT abuse verb ⇨ exploit (abuse drugs/your position)⇨ offend (verbally abused)⇨ rape (sexually abused) Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Search result show the entry is found in: self-abuse , or substance abuse , or carnal abuse , or abuse of processabuse I. \əˈbyüz\ transitive verb (-ed/-ing/-s) Etymology: Middle English abusen, from Middle French abuser, from abus, n., abuse, from Latin abusus, past participle of abuti to consume, abuse, misuse, from ab- ab- (I) + uti to use — more at use 1. a. : to attack or injure with words : reproach coarsely : disparage < abuse a person in the most violent terms > b. obsolete : to speak falsely of : misrepresent < abused her to her friends > 2. obsolete : to cause to believe the false : lead into error : deceive < the Moor's abused by some most villainous knave — Shakespeare > 3. a. : to put to a use other than the one intended : misapply < abusing the privilege by invoking it for ends not sanctioned by law — Bernard Meltzer > : use or apply improperly or to excess < farmers have learned not to abuse the soil > b. : to put to a bad use : pervert < abused his power by profiting at the expense of others > : take unfair or undue advantage of < he has abused my confidence in letting this secret become known > 4. : to use or treat so as to injure, hurt, or damage : maltreat < abuse a horse by overworking it > < abuse one's eyes by reading in dim light > : treat without consideration or fairness < those left behind felt themselves abused > 5. a. : masturbate b. archaic : to violate sexually : rape c. : to commit indecent assault on — compare abuse II 5II. \-üs\ noun (-s) Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French abus 1. : a corrupt practice or custom : offense , fault < the buying of votes and other election abuses > 2. : improper or incorrect use : misuse < to call that state a democracy is an abuse of terms > : application to a wrong or bad purpose < the arbitrary punishments were an abuse of his power > 3. obsolete : a deceitful act : deception , delusion < or is it some abuse, and no such thing — Shakespeare > 4. : language that condemns or vilifies usually unjustly, intemperately, and angrily < bolshevist had become … a vague term of abuse — Rose Macaulay > < the political harridans would … attack every possible leader with scandal and abuse — H.G.Wells > 5. a. : the act of violating sexually : rape b. under some statutes : rape or indecent assault not amounting to rape — compare carnal abuse, self-abuse 6. : physically harmful treatment : maltreatment , ill-usage < to be arrested for abuse of an animal > < abuse of one's health > Synonyms: invective , obloquy , vituperation , scurrility , billingsgate : abuse , the most general word in this list of terms, may frequently indicate a speaker's angry intent to wound; it usually suggests lack of anything that is fair or temperate < now there is one word in the extended vocabulary of barrack-room abuse that cannot pass without comment … you must not call a man a bastard unless you are prepared to prove it on his front teeth — Rudyard Kipling > invective may apply to any denunciatory diatribe, but it often connotes a certain command of cogent language < John Bull stopped at nothing in the way of insult; but its blazing audacity of invective never degenerated into dull abuse — Agnes Repplier > < Cicero replied in that masterpiece of invective known as the Fifth Philippic — John Buchan > This suggestion is not necessarily present < not the rapier of sarcasm but the bludgeon of invective — W.S.Maugham > obloquy may suggest language designed to shame another, language casting shame upon another < those who … stood by me in the teeth of obloquy, taunt and open sneer, or insult even — Oscar Wilde > < to a symbol of obloquy, to an unanswerable epithet of derogation — Bliss Perry > vituperation suggests fluent, ready, and sustained abuse and castigation nastily delivered < hag, nuisance, shrew, termagant let loose, she assailed everybody who violated in the least her prejudices. Presidents were nagged beyond endurance, and senators, and congressmen: no one could escape the vials of her vituperation — F.L.Pattee > < avoid reflections on the chastity of your opponent's female relations … Once you have gone so far it is impossible to retrace your steps and resort to minor forms of vituperation — Robert Graves > scurrility , the most uncomplimentary of these words, implies meanness or viciousness in attack and coarseness or foulness in language < interrupted in his defense by ribaldry and scurrility from the judgment seat — T.B.Macaulay > billingsgate may indicate very ready, easy profanity and obscenity delivered with practiced ease < the billingsgate slang they certainly have acquired in perfection, and no white would think of competing with them in abuse or hard swearing — Sidney Baker > < an assortment of billingsgate that would have paralyzed a fishwife and brought blushes to a character in a Jim Tully novel or a Eugene O'Neill play — Herbert Asbury > |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Abundance of noun from dictionary english oxford quantity
Previous card: to accede from ad verb latin acceded ac·cede
Up to card list: English learning