abuse
verb (used with object)
to use wrongly or improperly; misuse.
had been abusing
-
past perfect progressiveof abuse.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Apple had been abusing its dominant position in the market for a decade, and ordered it to remove the restrictions.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2024
The Nazis claimed that Poles had been abusing and mistreating ethnic Germans in Poland, and Nazi propagandists fabricated a number of supposed atrocities that had been perpetrated against Germans.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020
The article added that Wisconsin passed a “day of rest” law in the first place because employers had been abusing employees by pressing them to work too many days without break.
From MSNBC ● Jul. 8, 2015
First, if the NSA had been abusing the process—if analysts or senior officials had been searching metadata for personal, political, or vindictive purposes—the changes in custody and oversight would have a huge impact.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2015
—My friend, the Professor, whom I have mentioned to you once or twice, told me yesterday that somebody had been abusing him in some of the journals of his calling.
From Complete Project Gutenberg Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Works by Oliver Wendell Holmes
