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

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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 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 Damian Reynolds, 34, was sentenced to a 20-year prison sentence — the maximum allowed under the law —after he was convicted of abusing two women, according to the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office. — Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 6 Oct. 2026 Xuan is also charged with one count of directly abusing a child. — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026 The film follows parents who are accused of abusing their children. — Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Oct. 2026 As reports of officers abusing Flock have made headlines and the company has become increasingly controversial, hundreds of cities and counties have ended or suspended their contracts with the company, or decided not to renew them. — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 2 Oct. 2026 Last week, Ross’ former girlfriend publicly accused him on social media of abusing her during their relationship. — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026 Jang also accused McKinsey of emotionally abusing her mother. — ABC News, 1 Oct. 2026 In lawsuits filed last year, Chegg and PMC accused Google of abusing its monopoly power by coercing publishers into supplying content for AI Overviews for free, or risk disappearing from search results. — Emma Roth, The Verge, 1 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
  • Concerns over bullying on campus, as well as a lack of security, have also been raised.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Grande had been the subject of a wave of speculation, concern and bullying regarding her physical appearance following images of the actress-singer going viral in late July.
    — James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 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
  • An Athens-Clarke County police officer has been fired and is under investigation after officials say he was accused of misusing his department's Flock Safety system to search for his ex-girlfriend's vehicle.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency found that GEO Group had violated federal law by misusing HDQ Neutral.
    — Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of misusing
Verb
  • As the unit enters its second year, its priorities remain identifying victims and building cases against those exploiting them.
    — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Still, hackers can infiltrate companies by duping an employee into installing malware on their computer or exploiting unknown vulnerabilities in their software or network.
    — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 6 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
  • One camp of the ultra-rich cohort is actively exiting the country and slamming the tax policies as bad for business, while a whole other group is publicly demanding that they be taxed more.
    — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Prosecutors say that the driver involved in that crash allegedly ran a red light while driving under the influence, slamming into a Metro bus, killing two passengers.
    — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 7 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
  • Massie’s Hegseth resolution, among other allegations, lays out charges of violating Congress’ war powers and carrying out extrajudicial killings.
    — Nicholas Wu, semafor.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Two officers who conducted the internal investigation into Martin’s use of force sued the city for violating the Whistleblower Act, alleging they were retaliated against for recommending to Fitzgerald that Martin be fired.
    — Emily Holshouser, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of violating

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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 14 Oct. 2026.

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