abuse

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations noun: /əˈbjuːs/, verb: /əˈbjuːz/

US:USA pronunciation: IPAUSA pronunciation: IPA/v. əˈbjuz; n. əˈbjus/

US:USA pronunciation: respellingUSA pronunciation: respelling(v. ə byo̅o̅z′; n. ə byo̅o̅s′)


Inflections of 'abuse' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
abuses
v 3rd person singular
abusing
v pres p
underused
v past
underused
v past p

Collocations for "abuse"


Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word "abuse" in context.

WordReference English Collocations © 2025

abuse

ⓘMost examples are given in US English. We have labeled exceptions as UK.
v
  1. [the priest, a relative, a stranger] abused him
  2. was abused by [the priest]
  3. abused her [over the phone, by email, through messages]
  4. abused his [position, power, office, authority]
  5. abused her [trust, faith, innocence]
  6. abused his [friend, coworker]
  7. abused and [neglected, abandoned, raped, exploited, assaulted]
  8. abused in [childhood, adolescence]
  9. abused throughout (his) [childhood] (by)
  10. abused for [political power, self gain]
  11. abused for [sex, sexual pleasure]
  12. abused to [allow, make, execute, protect, gain]
  13. abused at [home, work, school]
  14. [physically, mentally, emotionally, sexually, systematically] abused
  15. [children, women, workers] are abused
  16. abused its [discretion, monopoly, power]
  17. abuse [drugs, alcohol, authority]
  18. [accused, guilty] of abusing the [system, privilege, service]
  19. abuse your [body, health, eyesight]
  20. abuse yourself
  21. use and abuse
  22. use it, don't abuse it
n
  1. [alcohol, substance, drug] abuse
  2. [child, animal, elder] abuse
  3. [sex, child, physical, verbal, sexual, domestic, spousal, emotional] abuse
  4. allegations of [sex] abuse
  5. [suspected, alleged] abuse
  6. [unwarranted, unexpected, unavoidable, unintentional] abuse
  7. [possible, potential, probably] abuse (of)
  8. [prevent, avoid, prolong] the abuse (of)
  9. [suffered, experienced, withstood] abuse
  10. [suffered] abuse [as a child, in childhood]
  11. [suffer] [substantial, excessive, a lot of] abuse
  12. the [car, part, machine] can take [substantial] abuse
  13. [considered, thought] to be abuse
  14. [constitutes, was] an abuse (of)
  15. the abuse of [power, children, natural resources]
  16. the abuse of [drugs, alcohol]
  17. abuse in [Iraq, Washington]
  18. abuse in the [workplace, office]
  19. abuse at [home, school]
  20. abuse and [neglect, addiction]
  21. [suspected, accused] of (possible) abuse
  22. a [system, habit] of abuse
n as adj
  1. abuse [prevention, treatment, hotline]
  2. abuse [violations, citations]
  3. [sex, child, sexual, domestic, spousal] abuse victims
'abuse' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
account - adverse - alcohol - alleged - blatant - child - concert - domestic - emotional - end - false - form - fraud - human - incident - influence - instance - intervention - misuse - neglect - outrageous - persistent - physical - prescription - rampant - recruit - resource - ring - river - sexual - shelter - shower - shriek - storm - stream - substance - system - target - track

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