ill-treat
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ill-treat
First recorded in 1695–1705
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.
In these quotations, to vanquish foes and destroy enemies does not mean to ill-treat others in any way, or even to seek victory over them in a traditional sense.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 11, 2019
I don't want my son to tease you, much less ill-treat you.
From The Two Story Mittens and the Little Play Mittens Being the Fourth Book of the Series by Aunt Fanny
Yet you are but a child, knowing neither good nor evil, and all they can say against you is that you are the child of your parents; that is why they ill-treat you!
From For the Right by Karl Emil Franzos
They ceased to ill-treat their prisoner, and even showed a disposition to talk.
From The Fire Trumpet A Romance of the Cape Frontier by Bertram Mitford
They did not absolutely ill-treat him, but they refused to let him enter their nest, and insisted that he should live by himself in a distant bush.
From The Animal Story Book by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
