abort

American  

[uh-bawrt] / əˈbɔrt /

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)

1. to cause to bring forth (a fetus) from the uterus before the fetus is viable.

2. to cause (a pregnant female) to be delivered of a nonviable fetus.

3. to cause to cease or end at an early or premature stage.

   We aborted our vacation when the car broke down.

4. to terminate (a missile flight, mission, etc.) before completion.

5. to put down or quell in the early stages.

   Troops aborted the uprising.

noun

1. a missile, rocket, etc., that has aborted.

abort British  

/ əˈbɔːt /

verb

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

---

noun

1. the premature termination or failure of (a space flight, military operation, etc)

Other Word Forms

• unaborted adjective

Etymology

Origin of abort

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin abortus “miscarried,” past participle of aborīrī “to disappear, miscarry,” equivalent to ab- ab- + orīrī “to rise, come into being”; orient ( def. )

Example Sentences

The front of the car lost grip, and kept losing grip, and Norris had to abort to prevent going off the track.

From BBC

"I just had a bit of understeer and was going to go off so I had to abort," said Norris.

From Barron's

The Australian beat Norris by 0.108 seconds after Norris, who had been fastest on their first runs by 0.035secs, aborted his final lap.

From BBC

The Maryland-based TV station owner’s tactics in an aborted takeover of Tribune Media drew FCC scrutiny.

From Los Angeles Times

Watson was heavily criticised for saying that women should have the right to abort her unborn child if tests proved it would be homosexual.

From BBC

Related Words

• break off
• cut off
• halt
• interrupt
• nullify
• scrap
• scrub
• terminate