abusing

verb

present participle of abuse
1
as in bullying
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon if you abuse your pet, he will always have an ugly disposition

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in attacking
to criticize harshly and usually publicly a demanding, difficult patient who constantly abuses the nurses and aides

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in misusing
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in exploiting
to take unfair advantage of abused his parents' trust, pilfering small amounts from them that he hoped they wouldn't notice

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of abusing In an earlier episode, Pam confronts Grace’s mother about abusing her daughter and ends up bashing in the woman’s head with a meat tenderizer — which sounds like a pivotal moment but plays more like a side quest. — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026 The former owner of several unlicensed North Texas boarding homes pleaded guilty Monday to financially abusing and fatally neglecting elderly and disabled people in her care, according to court filings. — Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Oct. 2026 Authorities learned that her company, which claimed to provide supervised personal care for adults in need throughout five homes in Tarrant County, was actually abusing and neglecting clients and committing fraud. — S.e. Jenkins, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026 In 1993, a man accused Calicott of abusing him as a boy, starting in 1976. — Shun Graves, Chicago Tribune, 14 Oct. 2026 The state attorney general was accused of accepting bribes and abusing his office to help a political donor whom the FBI was investigating. — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 13 Oct. 2026 Thriller in which a Latvian mother’s life in Sweden unravels after she is accused of abusing her young daughter. — Annika Pham, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026 This also means that the conventional password system still appears to be in place, allowing a hacker to break into an account through the traditional login method or by abusing the Starlink account recovery process. — Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 12 Oct. 2026 As Rolling Stone and Sportico have reported, the Riverside plaintiffs all allege that the church should have known that Lorch was abusing children. — Luke Cyphers, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abusing
  1. bullying
  2. attacking
  3. misusing
  4. exploiting
  5. torturing
  6. slamming
  7. using
  8. violating
Verb
  • At least three employees supervised by Perera have filed bullying complaints with DIR’s Office of Equity and Risk.
    — Joe Rubin, Sacbee.com, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Concerns over bullying on campus, as well as a lack of security, have also been raised.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of bullying
Verb
  • Selma Blair was arrested Sunday after allegedly attacking crew members on board a Delta flight into New York City.
    — Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Arriving crews reported heavy fire on the third floor and began interior operations, attacking the fire with multiple handlines, Hopkins said.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of attacking
Verb
  • And any police officer caught misusing them should be charged by violating the constitution.
    — Josh Bergeron, Charlotte Observer, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Diggory and Polly are transported to Narnia from London after accidentally misusing magic rings owned by Diggory’s Uncle Andrew, played by Daniel Craig.
    — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of misusing
Verb
  • Leaving aside the comics, tie-books, video games, and other ancillary delights of exploiting successful IP, there’s the Netflix show, of course.
    — Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 13 Oct. 2026
  • At least three people were arrested in Florida after allegedly exploiting the chaos left behind by Hurricane Isaias to steal a car and loot a store.
    — Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of exploiting
Verb
  • Guevara has never been charged with a crime in connection with allegedly torturing supsects, and the statute of limitations has long since expired on any such charges, Felker said.
    — Chris Tye, CBS News, 5 Oct. 2026
  • In 1996, Pike was found guilty of first-degree murder for beating, torturing and killing Slemmer, a fellow Jobs Corps worker, in a remote area of the University of Tennessee Agricultural campus.
    — Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of torturing
Verb
  • Modeling work suggests the duo will keep orbiting our star for millions of years before ultimately slamming into either Earth or Venus.
    — Mike Wall, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The impact caused the Camry to spin around, slamming into the back of a southbound 2021 Toyota RAV4.
    — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of slamming
Verb
  • Their role becomes clear at 21-, 36- and 52-Across, where the clues solve to partial entries, which can be completed only by using the entry spaces of those dash clues.
    — Sam Corbin, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • In a small farm context, that will be to a grouping of farmers that form a producer unit using the same practices in the same climate.
    — SJ Studio, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of using
Verb
  • In the letter, Omar's attorneys accused the Justice Department of violating longstanding agency policy designed to avoid potentially influencing an election.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
  • He was arrested again a week later after violating a protection order by trying to contact the woman, according to the arrest affidavit.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of violating

Browse Nearby Words

abuses
abusing
abusive
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Cite this Entry

“Abusing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abusing. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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