| abuse | |
| 1. n. Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom. | |
| All abuse, whether physical, verbal, psychological or sexual, is bad. | |
| 2. n. Misuse; improper use; perversion. | |
| 3. n. (obsolete) A delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception. | |
| 4. n. (dated outside of Africa) Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies. | |
| 5. n. (now rare) Catachresis. | |
| 6. n. Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment. | |
| 7. n. Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis. | |
| 8. v. To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to misuse; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert | |
| He abused his authority. | |
| 9. v. To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly. | |
| 10. v. (transitive, dated outside of Africa) To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage. | |
| 11. v. 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. | |
| 12. v. (transitive, archaic) To violate; defile; to rape. | |
| 13. v. (transitive, obsolete) Misrepresent; adulterate. | |
| 14. v. (transitive, obsolete) To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of. | |
| 15. v. (transitive, obsolete, Scotland) Disuse. | |
