abort
verbEtymology From Latin abortare, from abortus, from aboriri (“miscarry”), from ab- (“not”) + oriri (“come into being, arise, appear”).
9 senses
- 1To miscarry; to bring forth (non-living) offspring prematurely.
- 2To cause a premature termination of (a fetus); to end a…
- 3To end prematurely; to stop in the preliminary stages…
- 4To stop or fail at something in the preliminary stages.
- 5To become checked in normal development, so as either to…
- 6To cause an organism to develop minimally; to cause…
- 7To abandon a mission at any point after the beginning of…
- 8To terminate a mission involving a missile or rocket; to…
- 9To terminate a process prior to completion.
- Women have aborted, men have committed suicide, and both men and women have been thrown into convulsions during the fearful agony of renal colic.1785, Henry Morris, Surgical Diseases of the Kidney, page 458:
- In the study group ll patients aborted spontaneously between the 17th and 20th gestational week and 8 patients aborted after the 21st week.1983, M. D. Bennett, Chromosomes Today: Volume 8 Proceedings of the Eighth International Chromosome Conference, page 346:
To cause a premature termination of (a fetus); to end a pregnancy before term.
- "Of course, you can't abort yourself...I mean you positively can't be allowed to. To begin with it's a crime."1961, Xavier Herbert, Soldiers' Women, Netley, SA: Fontana Books, published 1978, page 236:
To end prematurely; to stop in the preliminary stages; to turn back.
To stop or fail at something in the preliminary stages.
Biology, Natural sciences To become checked in normal development, so as either to remain rudimentary or shrink away wholly; to cease organic growth before maturation; to become sterile.
Biology, Natural sciences To cause an organism to develop minimally; to cause rudimentary development to happen; to prevent maturation.
Government, Military, Politics, War To abandon a mission at any point after the beginning of the mission and prior to its completion.
- First he aborts the take-off and now we have a runway incursion!2022, Michael & Stefan Strasser, Chicken Wings (comic):
Aeronautics, Aerospace, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences To terminate a mission involving a missile or rocket; to destroy a missile or rocket prematurely.
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To terminate a process prior to completion.
- Derived terms
- abortable, abortal, abortation, abortee, aborter, abortient, abortifacient, abortifactive, abortificant, abortion, abortist, abortive, abortment, abortogenic, abortorium, abortuary, abortus, misabort, nonaborting, pro-abort, unabort