abort

1 of 2

verb

ə-ˈbȯrt 

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

Synonyms

Verb

• abandon
• call
• call off
• cancel
• cry off
• drop
• recall
• repeal
• rescind
• revoke
• scrap
• scrub

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

Verb

Engineers lost control of the vehicle and had to abort, blowing the rocket up with the flight termination system. —WIRED, 18 Nov. 2023

Apollo 13 was the only mission that had to be aborted, with the crew making an emergency re-entry. —Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 21 Oct. 2023

Three years earlier, the government had tried to capture him, but aborted the operation after his cartel allies set off a wave of violence in the Sinaloan capital. —CBS News, 16 Sep. 2023

The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate after a United Airlines flight had to abort its landing at Logan International Airport Monday night because a plane that had landed was still on the runway, officials said. —Jeremy C. Fox, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Sep. 2023

Pilots decided to abort take-off Friday evening after a Swiss Airlines flight ran into a flock off birds during its takeoff at O’Hare International Airport, an airline spokesman said. —Deanese Williams-Harris, Chicago Tribune, 9 Sep. 2023

This summer alone, Primavera Sound Madrid, Tennessee’s Bonnaroo, German metal festival Wacken Open Air, Scottish folk festival Tiree, Michigan rave Electric Forest, and our own Pitchfork Music Festival were either paused, preempted, or aborted due to inclement weather. —Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 13 Sep. 2023

The Cessna Citation business jet had to abort its landing Friday because a Southwest Boeing 737 was still on the runway waiting to depart. —Laura Blasey, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2023

Over the next few weeks, there were similar incidents in Sarasota, Florida; Burbank, California; and Boston, where a JetBlue Airways flight aborted its landing to avoid colliding with a charter plane that was taking off without clearance from air traffic control. —Emily Steel, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Aug. 2023

Noun

Elsewhere in Asia, India took strides toward launching its own astronauts with a successful test of a launch abort system for the country's Gaganyaan spacecraft, which could fly people into low-Earth orbit in 2025. —Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 27 Oct. 2023

In either weather extreme, does focus on their own survival and will abort fawns. —Scott Bestul, Field & Stream, 31 Aug. 2023

While Putin initially accused Wagner of treason, a deal saw Prigozhin abort the revolt. —Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 14 July 2023

Simply put, the rocket has a lot of moving and stable parts including a propulsion system, launch abort system, cargo module, service module, guidance systems and crew capsule. —Lee Roop | [e-mail], al, 18 Aug. 2023

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket suffered an unspecified booster failure just over a minute after launch on Monday, triggering its unoccupied capsule's emergency abort system. —Harold Maass, The Week, 13 Sep. 2022

Forecasters are predicting an 80% chance of acceptable launch weather, but mission managers are monitoring sea conditions along the spacecraft's trajectory to orbit that could cause problems if the crew had to attempt an emergency splashdown after an abort. —William Harwood, CBS News, 29 Oct. 2021

Conditions at the launch site should be fine, but forecasters have some concerns about the weather along the rocket's track, which would come into play should there be an abort during the launch requiring Crew Dragon to make an emergency return to Earth. —Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 27 Feb. 2023

On Tuesday morning, NASA will test the launch abort safety system for Orion. —Korey Haynes, Discover Magazine, 1 July 2019

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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

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

ə-ˈbȯ(ə)rt 

: 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

ə-ˈbȯrt 

: to induce the expulsion of (a human fetus)