Abused Abuse əˈbjuːz Felt Trust Talking Sexually Abusing

• to abuse alcohol/drugs
• he systematically abused his body with heroin and cocaine.
• she abused her position as principal by giving jobs to her friends.
• he felt they had abused his trust by talking about him to the press (= tricked him, although he had trusted them).

abuse

1. to make bad use of something, or to use so much of something that it harms your health
• to abuse alcohol/drugs
• He systematically abused his body with heroin and cocaine.
2. to use power or knowledge unfairly or wrongly
• She abused her position as principal by giving jobs to her friends.
• He felt they had abused his trust by talking about him to the press (= tricked him, although he had trusted them).
3. to treat a person or an animal in a cruel or violent way, especially sexually
• All the children had been physically and emotionally abused.
• He had abused his own daughter.
• The boy had been sexually abused.
4. to make rude or offensive remarks to or about somebody
• synonym insult
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/insult_1
• The referee had been threatened and abused.

Extra Examples

• He felt they had abused his trust by talking about him to the press.
• He had abused his own daughter.
• He is accused of sexually abusing the children in his care.
• Journalists covering the case have been threatened and abused.
• People who abuse alcohol over a long period will develop health problems.
• The striker has been banned for the rest of the season for verbally abusing a referee.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they abuse
• he / she / it abuses
• past simple abused
• past participle abused
• -ing form abusing

Word Origin

• late Middle English: via Old French from Latin abus- ‘misused’, from the verb abuti, from ab- ‘away’ (i.e. ‘wrongly’) + uti ‘to use’.