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verb (used without object)
1.
to bring forth a fetus from the uterus before the fetus is viable; miscarry.
2.
to develop incompletely; remain in a rudimentary or undeveloped state.
3.
to fail, cease, or stop at an early or premature stage.
4.
Military. to fail to accomplish a purpose or mission for any reason other than enemy action.
5.
Rocketry. (of a missile) to stop before the scheduled flight is completed.
verb (used with object)
6.
to cause to bring forth (a fetus) from the uterus before the fetus is viable.
7.
to cause (a pregnant female) to be delivered of a nonviable fetus.
8.
to cause to cease or end at an early or premature stage: We aborted our vacation when the car broke down.
9.
to terminate (a missile flight, mission, etc.) before completion.
10.
to put down or quell in the early stages: Troops aborted the uprising.
00:10
Abort
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is subtilize. Does it mean:
| to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about. |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
noun
11.
a missile, rocket, etc., that has aborted.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To abort
Collins
World English Dictionary
abort (əˈbɔːt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to undergo or cause (a woman) to undergo the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is viable |
| 2. | (tr) to cause (a fetus) to be expelled from the womb before it is viable |
| 3. | (intr) to fail to come to completion; go wrong |
| 4. | (tr) to stop the development of; cause to be abandoned |
| 5. | (intr) to give birth to a dead or nonviable fetus |
| 6. | (of a space flight, military operation, etc) to fail or terminate prematurely |
| 7. | (intr) (of an organism or part of an organism) to fail to develop into the mature form |
| —n | |
| 8. | the premature termination or failure of (a space flight, military operation, etc) |
| [C16: from Latin abortāre, from the past participle of aborīrī to miscarry, from ab- wrongly, badly + orīrī to appear, arise, be born] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
abort
1570s, "to miscarry," from pp. stem of L. aboriri "to miscarry" (see abortive); 1610s as "to deliberately terminate" anything, but especially a pregnancy, which seems to be the literal sense. Trans. meaning "to cause a woman to miscarry" is recorded from 1933.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
abort a·bort (ə-bôrt')
v. a·bort·ed, a·bort·ing, a·borts
To expel or cause to expel an embryo or fetus before it is viable.
To arrest a disease in its earliest stages.
To arrest in growth or development; to cause to remain rudimentary.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary
abort definition
programmingTo terminate a program or process abnormally and usually suddenly, with or without diagnostic information. "My program aborted", "I aborted the transmission". The noun form in computing is "abort", not "abortion", e.g. "We've had three aborts over the last two days".
If a Unix kernel aborts it is known as a panic.
(1997-01-07)
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