abort
verb /əˈbɔːt/
/əˈbɔːrt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they abort | /əˈbɔːt/ /əˈbɔːrt/ |
| he / she / it aborts | /əˈbɔːts/ /əˈbɔːrts/ |
| past simple aborted | /əˈbɔːtɪd/ /əˈbɔːrtɪd/ |
| past participle aborted | /əˈbɔːtɪd/ /əˈbɔːrtɪd/ |
| -ing form aborting | /əˈbɔːtɪŋ/ /əˈbɔːrtɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] abort something to end a pregnancy early in order to prevent a baby from developing and being born alive
- to abort a child/pregnancy/fetus
- [intransitive] (specialist) to give birth to a child or young animal too early for it to survive
- The virus can cause pregnant animals to abort.
- [intransitive, transitive] to end or cause something to end before it has been completed, especially because it is likely to fail
- (computing) If the wrong password is given the program aborts.
- abort something We had no option but to abort the mission.
- The plan was aborted at the last minute.
Word Originmid 16th cent.: from Latin aboriri ‘miscarry’, from ab- ‘away, from’ + oriri ‘be born’.