abort

[ uh-bawrt ]

/ əˈbɔrt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abort ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to bring forth a fetus from the uterus before the fetus is viable; miscarry.

to develop incompletely; remain in a rudimentary or undeveloped state.

to fail, cease, or stop at an early or premature stage.

Military. to fail to accomplish a purpose or mission for any reason other than enemy action.

Rocketry. (of a missile) to stop before the scheduled flight is completed.

verb (used with object)

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

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

to cause to cease or end at an early or premature stage: We aborted our vacation when the car broke down.

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

to put down or quell in the early stages: Troops aborted the uprising.

noun

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

Nearby words

aboriginalia, aboriginality, aborigine, aborigines, aborning, abort, aborted systole, aborticide, abortient, abortifacient, abortigenic

Origin of abort

1570–80; < Latin abortus miscarried (past participle of aborīrī to disappear, miscarry) equivalent to ab- ab- + -or- come into being + -tus past participle suffix

Related forms

un·a·bort·ed, adjective

Can be confused

aboard abort abroad

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for abort

Ellen makes her choice, and she throws herself down the stairs to abort the baby.
Why Deny the Obvious: Hollywood’s Backward Stance on Abortion|Teo Bugbee|June 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton.
What Cliven Bundy’s Famous Backers Said, Before and After|Olivia Nuzzi|April 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Well, Sarah Palin is travelling across the country alerting people that “angry atheists” want to “abort Christ from Christmas.”
It’s Conservatives Who Really Want Christ Out of Christmas|Dean Obeidallah|December 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
All of a sudden, Mission Control (voiced by Ed Harris, paying homage to Apollo 13) orders the team to abort immediately.
Alfonso Cuarón On His Spellbinding Sci-Fi Film ‘Gravity,’ Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney|Marlow Stern|September 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Stand with the pink-sneakered Texas legislator and her fight to allow mothers to abort babies past the 20th week of pregnancy?
Kirsten Powers: I Don’t Stand With Wendy Davis|Kirsten Powers|July 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Cows during the first two or three months of gestation are almost sure to abort.
Barium, A Cause of the Loco-Weed Disease|Albert Cornelius Crawford
During the abort dialogue of the magistrate with Adrienne, their backs were both turned to Baleinier and Rodin.
The Wandering Jew, Complete|Eugene Sue
This mat is abort four feet square, and when folded has one end sewn up, so that it forms a kind of sack open at one side.
The Malay Archipelago|Alfred Russell Wallace
Some appearances make me think that they abort by becoming confluent with the main petiole.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II|Charles Darwin
Diseases and other accidents may sometimes hinder the development of good dispositions, or even cause them to abort completely.
The Sexual Question|August Forel

British Dictionary definitions for abort

abort

/ (əˈbɔːt) /

verb

to undergo or cause (a woman) to undergo the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is viable

(tr) to cause (a fetus) to be expelled from the womb before it is viable

(intr) to fail to come to completion; go wrong

(tr) to stop the development of; cause to be abandoned

(intr) to give birth to a dead or nonviable fetus

(of a space flight, military operation, etc) to fail or terminate prematurely

(intr) (of an organism or part of an organism) to fail to develop into the mature form

noun

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

Word Origin for abort

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 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for abort

abort

[ ə-bôrt′ ]

v.

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.

abort

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of abort

Related forms

Can be confused

Examples from the Web for abort

British Dictionary definitions for abort

abort

verb

noun

Word Origin for abort

Medicine definitions for abort

abort

v.