ill-use

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verb (used with object)

to treat badly, unjustly, cruelly, etc.

noun

Also, ill-us·age. bad, unjust, or cruel treatment.

Origin:
1835–45

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To ill-use

Collins

World English Dictionary

ill-use

—vb
1.	to use badly or cruelly; abuse; maltreat

—n
2.	harsh or cruel treatment; abuse

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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00:10

Ill-use is one of our favorite verbs.

So is fletcherise. Does it mean:

to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.

to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Matching Quote

"People who use their erudition to write for a learned minority ... don't seem to me favored by fortune but rather to be pitied for their continuous self-torture. They add, change, remove, lay aside, take up, rephrase, show to their friends, keep for nine years and are never satisfied. And their futile reward, a word of praise from a handful of people, they win at such a cost—so many late nights, such loss of sleep, sweetest of all things, and so much sweat and anguish ... their health deteriorates, their looks are destroyed, they suffer partial or total blindness, poverty, ill-will, denial of pleasure, premature old age and early death."

-Desiderius Erasmus

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Related Words

abuse