abort

1 of 2

verb

aborted; aborting; aborts

intransitive verb

1
: to bring forth stillborn, nonviable, or premature offspring
2
: to become checked in development so as to degenerate or remain rudimentary
3
: to terminate a procedure prematurely
the pilot decided to abort due to mechanical difficulties

transitive verb

1
a
: to induce the abortion of or give birth to prematurely
b
: to terminate the pregnancy of before term
2
a
: to terminate prematurely : cancel
abort a project
abort a spaceflight
b
: to stop in the early stages
abort a disease
aborter noun

abort

2 of 2

noun

: the premature termination of a flight (as of an aircraft or spacecraft), a mission, or an action or procedure relating to a flight
a launch abort

Examples of abort in a Sentence

Verb They decided to abort the pregnancy. abort the launch of a rocket I suggest that you abort the project. The mission had to be aborted. When problems occurred during the launch, it was necessary to abort.
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Verb
Reeves has even suggested watering down tax rises for private equity bosses and aborting plans to scrap the U.K.’s controversial non-dom status, amid concerns that implementing such measures would spark a wealth exodus. Karen Gilchrist, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2024 On September 12, an Alaska Airlines flight had to abort its takeoff in Nashville due to a Southwest flight crossing the same runway. Pete Muntean, CNN, 24 Sep. 2024
Noun
Hague, a 49-year-old Space Force colonel, is a veteran of one long-duration mission on the International Space Station, and also experienced a rare in-flight launch abort in 2018 due to a failure of a Russian Soyuz rocket. Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 28 Sep. 2024 The JetBlue plane had to abort takeoff, the airline said. Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 10 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for abort 

Word History

Etymology

Verb

in part borrowed from Latin abortus, past participle of aborīrī "to pass away, be lost, (of a fetus) miscarry, be aborted, (of a woman) miscarry," from ab- ab- + orīrī "to rise, come into existence, be born"; in part borrowed from Late Latin abortīre and abortīrī "(of a woman) to miscarry," derivatives of Latin aborīrī — more at orient entry 2

Noun

noun derivative of abort entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1540, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

1944, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of abort was in 1540

Dictionary Entries Near abort

Cite this Entry

“Abort.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abort. Accessed 7 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

abort

verb
ə-ˈbȯrt
1
: to bring forth premature or stillborn offspring
2
: to become checked in development
3
: to put an end to before completion
abort a project

Medical Definition

abort

intransitive verb
: to bring forth premature or stillborn offspring
the patient aborted spontaneously
compare miscarry

transitive verb

1
a
: to induce the abortion of or give birth to prematurely
b
: to terminate the pregnancy of before term
2
: to stop in the early stages
abort a disease
aborter noun

Legal Definition

abort

transitive verb
: to induce the expulsion of (a human fetus)

More from Merriam-Webster on abort

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!