Misuse
[mɪs'juːz] or [,mɪs'jus]
Definition
(noun.) improper or excessive use; 'alcohol abuse'; 'the abuse of public funds'.
Editor: Nettie--From WordNet
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.
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Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Misemploy, misapply, desecrate, profane, pervert, put to a wrong use.[2]. Abuse, maltreat, ill-treat, ill-use.[3]. Waste, squander, fool away, fritter away, muddle away, spend foolishly.
n. Abuse, perversion, prostitution, profanation.
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Synonyms and Antonyms
[See USE]
SYN:Abuse, perversion, prostitution,[See ABUSE]
Checked by Eli
Definition
n. improper use: application to a bad purpose.—v.t. Misuse (mis-ūz′) to use for a wrong purpose or in a wrong way: to treat ill: to abuse.—n. Misus′age ill-usage: abuse.
Typist: Melville
Examples
- Of little worth as life is when we misuse it, it is worth that effort. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- And of our misuse of the Rockefellers and Carnegies--the retrospect is appalling. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- He will get into worse trouble if he often misuses his large and heavy hand as he has misused it here. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Another misused word is the Roman term _proletariat_, which in modern jargon means all the unpropertied people in a modern state. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Maybe he sent me what little I have through that other one that misused the gun. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- I was confused when I spoke just now, the Major said after a pause, and I misused the word authority. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Methinks, holy father, said he, the instrument wants one string, and the rest have been somewhat misused. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- He will get into worse trouble if he often misuses his large and heavy hand as he has misused it here. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- What a use for the money, and how worthy of its old misuses! Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
Typist: Nicholas