abuse
n. C / Un. the cruel or violent treatment of a person or animal. It can also mean using something in a wrong or harmful way, like a drug or a position of power.
n. the improper, cruel, or violent treatment of a person or animal; alternatively, the misuse of a substance or a position of authority for an unintended or harmful purpose.
The government is working to prevent the abuse of power.
The charity provides a safe space for children who have suffered physical or emotional abuse at home.
While the report focused on physical safety, it also highlighted the systemic abuse of administrative loopholes that allowed the corruption to go undetected for years.
From Middle English abusen, then from either Old French abus (“improper use”), or from Latin abūsus (“misused, using up”), perfect active participle of abūtor (“make improper use of, consume, abuse”), from ab (“away”) + ūtor (“to use”). Equivalent to ab- + use.
From Middle English abusen, from Middle French abuser, from Latin abūsus (“misused, using up”), perfect active participle of abūtor (“to use up, misuse, consume”), from ab (“from, away from”) + ūtor (“to use”).
Uncountable when referring to the general concept of cruel treatment; countable when referring to specific instances or types of misuse.
The manager gave many abuses to the staffThe manager gave much abuse to the staffWhen referring to verbal insults or general mistreatment, the noun is typically uncountable and does not take a plural form.