Talk:abuse

antonym?
Does this word have an antonym? There isn't one listed. I don't know what Ab's antonyms are because only german ones are listed. The english definition says 'ab' means 'away from'. This is consistant with the use in anatomy (hip abduction, for example, brings the thigh away from the midline). So does this mean abuse means 'away from use'? This doesn't seem consistant with modern usage, but that said, what would be defined as 'towards use' which I assume would be opposite since 'toward' is opposite to 'away' or 'away from'.

As far as I'm aware with use, abuse means 'wrong use' as in something abhorrent, so perhaps there are other meanings from 'ab' to be inferred here? The opposite in this usage would be 'correct usage' or 'good use' or something like that, but I don't know what that is. Clearly both would be relative subcategories of 'use'. Tyciol 00:37, 10 January 2010 (UTC)


 * Some antonyms: care, nurture, support, caress. —Stephen 04:16, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

sense 5
Do we really think it's valid to say that abuse (by itself) means "sexual assault"? To me this sounds wrong, like saying that 'excitement' necessarily means 'sexual excitement', for example.--TyrS 14:41, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

RFV discussion
Rfv-sense: Sexual assault; violation; rape. Do we really think it's valid to say that abuse (by itself) means "sexual assault"? To me this sounds wrong, like, for example, saying that 'excitement' necessarily means 'sexual excitement'. (Same problem with verb sense 3.) --TyrS 14:41, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree. Without a modifier, I can't think of a situation where use would be that specific. --EncycloPetey 18:25, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Isn't this more a case of semantics (if that's the right word). If you make it clear that you're talking about sexual abuse, you can then keep saying 'abuse' and the listener will understand. In the same way that at a soccer game, 'player' will refer to soccer player. Hence, I'm not sure what sort of citation we should be looking for. Mglovesfun (talk) 17:08, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

RFV failed, sense removed. —Ruakh TALK 15:52, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

(reflexive verb) masturbate (disapproving)
reflexive verb masturbate: to masturbate (disapproving) --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:47, 21 September 2020 (UTC)