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exploitive

 - 3 dictionary results

ex⋅ploit

2  [ik-sploit]
Use exploitive in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to utilize, esp. for profit; turn to practical account: to exploit a business opportunity.
2. to use selfishly for one's own ends: employers who exploit their workers.
3. to advance or further through exploitation; promote: He exploited his new movie through a series of guest appearances.
Origin:
1375–1425; < F exploiter, deriv. of exploit (n.); r. late ME expleiten to achieve < AF espleiter, deriv. of espleit (n.). See exploit 1

Related forms:
ex⋅ploit⋅a⋅ble, adjective
ex⋅ploit⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun
ex⋅ploit⋅a⋅tive, ex⋅ploit⋅a⋅to⋅ry  [ik-sploi-tuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] , ex⋅ploit⋅ive, adjective
ex⋅ploit⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To exploitive
ex·ploit   (ěk'sploit', ĭk-sploit')   
n.  An act or deed, especially a brilliant or heroic one. See Synonyms at feat1.
tr.v.   (ĭk-sploit', ěk'sploit') ex·ploit·ed, ex·ploit·ing, ex·ploits

  1. To employ to the greatest possible advantage: exploit one's talents.

  2. To make use of selfishly or unethically: a country that exploited peasant labor. See Synonyms at manipulate.

  3. To advertise; promote.


[Middle English, from Old French esploit, from Latin explicitum, neuter past participle of explicāre, to unfold; see explicate.]
ex·ploit'a·bil'i·ty n., ex·ploit'a·ble adj., ex·ploit'a·tive, ex·ploit'ive adj., ex·ploit'a·tive·ly, ex·ploit'ive·ly adv., ex·ploit'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

exploit  (n.)
1393, from O.Fr. esploit, a very common v., used in senses of "action, deed, profit, achievement," from L. explicitum "a thing settled, ended, displayed," neut. of explicitus, pp. of explicare "unfold" (see explicit). Sense evolution is from "unfolding" to "bringing out" to "having advantage" to "achievement." The v. (M.E. espleiten, esploiten) meant "to accomplish;" the sense of "use selfishly" first arising 1838, as an adoption of Fr. exploiter.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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