(v. t.) To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to misuse; to put to a bad use; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert; as, to abuse inherited gold; to make an excessive use of; as, to abuse one's authority.
(v. t.) To use ill; to maltreat; to act injuriously to; to punish or to tax excessively; to hurt; as, to abuse prisoners, to abuse one's powers, one's patience.
(v. t.) To revile; to reproach coarsely; to disparage.
(v. t.) To dishonor.
(v. t.) To violate; to ravish.
(v. t.) To deceive; to impose on.
(v. t.) Improper treatment or use; application to a wrong or bad purpose; misuse; as, an abuse of our natural powers; an abuse of civil rights, or of privileges or advantages; an abuse of language.
(v. t.) Physical ill treatment; injury.
(v. t.) A corrupt practice or custom; offense; crime; fault; as, the abuses in the civil service.
(v. t.) Violation; rape; as, abuse of a female child.
Example Sentences:
(1) Unfortunately, due to confidentiality clauses that have been imposed on us by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, we are unable to provide our full names and … titles … However, we believe the evidence that will be submitted will validate the statements that we are making in this submission.” The submission detailed specific allegations – including names and dates – of sexual abuse of child detainees, violence and bullying of children, suicide attempts by children and medical neglect.
(2) The authors empirically studied the self-medication hypothesis of drug abuse by examining drug effects and motivation for drug use in 494 hospitalized drug abusers.
(3) Alcohol abuse remains the predominant cause of chronic liver disease in the Western world.
(4) With respect to family environment, a history of sexual abuse was associated with perceptions that families of origin had less cohesion, more conflict, less emphasis on moral-religious matters, less emphasis on achievement, and less of an orientation towards intellectual, cultural, and recreational pursuits.
(5) An official inquiry into the Rotherham abuse scandal blamed failings by Rotherham council and South Yorkshire police.
(6) Former detectives had dug out damning evidence of abuse, as well as testimony from officers recommending prosecution, sources said.
(7) After these two experimental years, a governmental institute for prevention of child abuse and neglect was organized.
(8) Stringer, a Vietnam war veteran who was knighted in 1999, is already inside the corporation, if only for a few months, after he was appointed as one of its non-executive directors to toughen up the BBC's governance following a string of scandals, from the Jimmy Savile abuse to multimillion-pound executive payoffs.
(9) History contains numerous examples of government secrecy breeding abuse.
(10) This preliminary study compared the level of ego development, as measured by Loevinger's Washington University Sentence Completion Test (SCT), of 30 women with histories of childhood sexual victimization, and 30 women with no history of abuse.
(11) The District became a byword for crime and drug abuse, while its “mayor for life” lived high on the hog and lurched cheerfully from one scandal to the next.
(12) An official from Cafcass, the children and family court advisory service, tried to persuade the child in several interviews, but eventually the official told the court that further persuasion was inappropriate and essentially abusive.
(13) A series of hierarchical multiple regressions revealed the effects of Surgency, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Intellect on evoking upset in spouses through condescension (e.g., treating spouse as stupid or inferior), possessiveness (demanding too much time and attention), abuse (slapping spouse), unfaithfulness (having sex with others), inconsiderateness (leaving toilet seat up), moodiness (crying a lot), alcohol abuse (drinking too much alcohol), emotional constriction (hiding emotions to act tough), and self-centeredness (acting selfishly).
(14) Its abuse has become concentrated among post-high school age, black males in a limited number of cities, especially Washington, DC.
(15) From a clinical standpoint, it is clear that psychiatrists caring for anxious patients must be aware of the possibility of secondary alcohol abuse.
(16) A thorough nursing assessment is essential to detect and correct drug misuse and to diagnose drug abuse.
(17) Substantial percentages of both physicians and medical students reported access to drugs, family histories of substance abuse, stress at work and home, emotional problems, and sensation seeking.
(18) Subjects with past history of chronic substance abuse, neurologic disease, or focal findings on MRI or CT were excluded.
(19) And any Labour commitment on spending is fatally undermined by their deficit amnesia.” Davey widened the attack on the Tories, following a public row this week between Clegg and Theresa May over the “snooper’s charter”, by accusing his cabinet colleague Eric Pickles of coming close to abusing his powers by blocking new onshore developments against the wishes of some local councils.
(20) Again, the boys in care that he abused now speak to us as broken adults.
Misuse
Definition:
(v. t.) To treat or use improperly; to use to a bad purpose; to misapply; as, to misuse one's talents.
(v. t.) To abuse; to treat ill.
(n.) Wrong use; misapplication; erroneous or improper use.
(n.) Violence, or its effects.
Example Sentences:
(1) A thorough nursing assessment is essential to detect and correct drug misuse and to diagnose drug abuse.
(2) Eleven per cent of the courses that responded provided no formal substance misuse training.
(3) Buckingham Palace was drawn into the dispute when it was revealed that Pownall had sought advice from the Lord Chamberlain, a key officer in the royal household, on the potential misuse of the portcullis emblem due to it being the property of the Queen.
(4) In some areas veterans are waiting up to 42 weeks for certain psychology services.” He added: “We also welcome the call for the Ministry of Defence to publish a comprehensive strategy on alcohol misuse.
(5) The implications of qualitative and quantitative differences among love, sex and commitment are discussed in relation to (1) the concept of "multiple selves," (2) "individual variations in threshold levels," and (3) the misuse of "ideal types."
(6) Benzodiazepine (BD) misuse and dependence in 80 patients, 1974-1983 undergoing withdrawal treatment, were investigated by means of case histories and catamnestic inquiries.
(7) These accusations seek to make her an accomplice to a misuse of public funds through her parliamentary assistant’s contract.
(8) During the period October, 1970, to October, 1972, a sample of 295 patients attending Special Clinics in the City of Glasgow participated in an investigation into drug misuse.
(9) Methods to prevent polypharmacy and drug misuse have not been well studied.
(10) Professor David Nutt, director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit at Imperial College, London, and former chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs , said the report provided strong evidence "that the costs of the current punitive approaches to cannabis control are massively disproportionate to the harms of the drug, and shows that more sensible approaches would provide significant financial benefits to the UK as well as reducing social exclusion and injustice".
(11) A simple one clause Abolition of Privacy Bill: "The tort of misuse of private information is hereby abolished" might be thought to be sufficient.
(12) It is “almost too late” to stop a global superbug crisis caused by the misuse of antibiotics, a leading expert has warned.
(13) Results are discussed in light of the finding that not much time is devoted to substance misuse in the professional preparation of these health care providers.
(14) Newspapers have been lobbying hard to stave off a Leveson law of any kind, arguing that the press is already subject to laws ranging from libel to data protection and computer misuse acts to guard against illegal activities.
(15) Scotland Yard said the 15-year-old was questioned on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act, but freed on bail on Tuesday morning pending further inquiries.
(16) However, 38.7% of these subjects were not alcohol misusers.
(17) Drug-taking was, in effect, decriminalised by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 , ever since when the authorities have deployed the rhetoric of toughness to conceal the truth that we are free to take drugs with impunity, knowing our crime will probably be ignored, or at worst not punished but "treated".
(18) The prevalence of alcohol misuse is similar for all exercise categories.
(19) Some psychiatrists misuse theoretical concepts beyond their generally accepted dimensions in an attempt to support a conclusion favorable to a litigant or defendant.
(20) AT as well as RFB may be considered "misused" in having them replace the therapeutical and understanding conversation between doctor and patients, in a mechanistic way.