Emily Dickinson Lexicon

A-BUSE', v.t. [s as z; Fr. abuser; Sp. abusar; It. abusare; L. abator, abusus, of ab and utor, to use; Ir. idh; W. gweth, use; Gr. εθω; to accustom. See Use.]

1. To use ill; to maltreat; to misuse; to use with bad motives or to wrong purposes; as, to abuse rights or privileges. They that use this world as not abusing it. – 1 Cor. vii.
2. To violate; to defile by improper sexual intercourse. – Spenser.
3. To deceive; to impose on. Nor be with all these tempting words abused. – Pope.
4. To treat rudely, or with reproachful language; to revile. He mocked and abused them shamefully. – Mac.
5. To pervert the meaning of; to misapply; as, to abuse words.