Text: 1 to inflict physical or emotional harm upon<if you abuse your pet, he will always have an ugly disposition>Synonymsill-treat, ill-use, maltreat, manhandle, mishandle, mistreat, misuseRelated Wordsmolest, outrage, violate; harass, harm, hurt, injure, oppress, persecute, torment, torture, victimize, wrongNear Antonymscare (for), cherish, foster, nurture; baby, cater (to), coddle, favor, gratify, humor, indulge, mollycoddle, pamper, spoil 2 to criticize harshly and usually publicly<a demanding, difficult patient who abuses the nurses and aides>— see attack 2 3 to put to a bad or improper use<if you abuse your baseball bat by using it to hammer nails, donʼt expect it to last long>— see misapply 4 to take unfair advantage of<abused his parentsʼ trust, pilfering small amounts from them that he hoped they wouldnʼt notice>— see exploit 1

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