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ill-use

[verb il-yooz; noun il-yoos]
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verb (used with object), ill-used, ill-us·ing.
  1. to treat badly, unjustly, cruelly, etc.
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noun
  1. Also ill-us·age. bad, unjust, or cruel treatment.
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Origin of ill-use

First recorded in 1835–45
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for ill-use

exhaust, squander, ill-treat, overwork, maltreat, taint, overburden, mishandle, dissipate, spoil, mistreat, misuse, waste, prostitute, overtax, misemploy

Examples from the Web for ill-use

Historical Examples of ill-use

  • He preached it to his daughter that the fellow might ill-use her in some way.

    Amy Foster

    Joseph Conrad

  • When he entered the house she said, 'Why did you allow them to ill-use my son.'

    Real Ghost Stories

    William T. Stead

  • For them, who now ill-use you, you have gone through life but half a man.

    Long Live the King

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • Yes, we may so ill-use our bodies that the watchman sleeps at his post!

  • He will ill-use us all,—and yet, major, you are going to leave us.

    Love and Intrigue

    Friedrich Schiller

British Dictionary definitions for ill-use

ill-use

verb (ˈɪlˈjuːz)
  1. to use badly or cruelly; abuse; maltreat
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noun (ˈɪlˈjuːs) ill-usage
  1. harsh or cruel treatment; abuse
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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