abuse

1 to inflict physical or emotional harm upon if you abuse your pet, he will always have an ugly disposition Synonyms brutalize, bully, ill-treat, ill-use, kick around, maltreat, manhandle, mess over [slang], mishandle, mistreat, misuse Related Words molest, outrage, violate; harass, harm, hurt, injure, oppress, persecute, torment, torture; burn, sandbag, victimize, wrong; beat (up), mess (up), rough (up), work (over) Phrases take apart Near Antonyms care (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 constantly abuses the nurses and aides Synonyms attack, assail, bash, belabor, blast, castigate, excoriate, jump (on), lambaste (or lambast), potshot, savage, scathe, slam, trash, vituperateRelated Words berate, harangue, harass, harry, revile, scold, whip; blaspheme, curse, execrate, imprecate, profane; affront, insult, slur; asperse, bad-mouth, belittle, blackguard, disparage, put down; libel, slander, traduce, vilify; chastise, chide, criticize, lace (into), rebuke, reprimand, reproof; fulminate, lash (out)Near Antonyms acclaim, commend, compliment, hail, laud, praise

3 to put to a bad or improper use if you abuse your baseball bat by using it to hammer nails, don't expect it to last long Synonyms misapply, misemploy, misuse, pervert, profane, prostituteRelated Words degrade, twist; mismanage; corrupt, debase, desecrateNear Antonyms apply, employ, use, utilize; respect

4 to take unfair advantage of abused his parents' trust, pilfering small amounts from them that he hoped they wouldn't notice Synonyms exploit, capitalize (on), cash in (on), impose (on or upon), leverage, milk, pimp, play (on or upon), use, workRelated Words jerk around, manipulate, mistreat; bleed, cheat, fleece, overcharge, skin, soak, stick; commercialize, commodify