ill-treat

American  

[il-treet] / ˈɪlˈtrit /

verb (used with object)

1. to treat badly; maltreat; abuse.

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ill-treat British  

verb

1. (tr) to behave cruelly or harshly towards; misuse; maltreat

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Other Word Forms

• ill-treatment noun

Etymology

Origin of ill-treat

First recorded in 1695–1705

Example Sentences

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

Why do you drive through the ditch, if you have a bridge within ten yards? and to ill-treat brown Lizzie!

From Problematic Characters A Novel by Spielhagen, Friedrich

If he were to ill-treat her, or at some future time were to regret having married into our family, my wife and I would be inconsolable.

From The Chinese Fairy Book by Wilhelm, Richard

“Who asked you to ill-treat my friend?” he cried.

From With Rifle and Bayonet A Story of the Boer War by Brereton, F. S. (Frederick Sadleir)

As such, the latter revered him and did not ill-treat him in their own country, where they carried him.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 29 of 55 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Various