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Abuse vs Devastation - What's the difference?

abuse | devastation | Related terms |

Abuse is a related term of devastation.


As a verb abuse

is .

As a noun devastation is

devastation, destruction.

abuse

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) abusen, then from either (etyl)

Noun

(en noun)
  • Improper treatment or usage; application to a wrong or bad purpose; an unjust, corrupt or wrongful practice or custom.
  • *
    • All abuse , whether physical, verbal, psychological or sexual, is bad.
  • Misuse; improper use; perversion.
  • * 1788 , , Number 63
    • Liberty may be endangered by the abuses' of liberty, as well as by the ' abuses of power.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
    • , author=(Jan Sapp) , title=Race Finished , volume=100, issue=2, page=164 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?}}
  • (obsolete) A delusion; an imposture; misrepresentation; deception.
  • *
  • Coarse, insulting speech; abusive language; language that unjustly or angrily vilifies.
  • *
  • (now, rare)   Catachresis.
  • Physical maltreatment; injury; cruel treatment.
  • Violation; defilement; rape; forcing of undesired sexual activity by one person on another, often on a repeated basis.
    • Usage notes
    * Typically followed by the word of .
    Synonyms
    * invective, contumely, reproach, scurrility, insult, opprobrium
    Derived terms
    * abusefully * abuse of distress * alcohol abuse * child abuse * drug abuse * self-abuse

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) abusen, from (etyl) abuser, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (abus)
  • To put to a wrong use; to misapply; to use improperly; to misuse; to use for a wrong purpose or end; to pervert; as, to abuse one's authority.
  • *
  • To injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly.
  • *
  • To attack with coarse language; to insult; to revile; malign; to speak in an offensive manner to or about someone; to disparage.
  • * Macaulay
    • The tellers of news abused the general.
  • *
  • To imbibe a drug for a purpose other than it was intended; to intentionally take more of a drug than was prescribed for recreational reasons; to take illegal drugs habitually.
  • (archaic) To violate; defile; to rape.
    • (Spenser)
  • (obsolete) Misrepresent; adulterate.
  • *
  • (obsolete) To deceive; to trick; to impose on; misuse the confidence of.
  • * 1651-2 , , "Sermon VI, The House of Feasting; or, The Epicures Measures", in The works of Jeremy Taylor , Volume 1, page 283 (1831), edited by Thomas Smart Hughes
    • When Cyrus had espied Astyages and his fellows coming drunk from a banquet loaden with variety of follies and filthiness, their legs failing them, their eyes red and staring, cozened with a moist cloud and abused by a double object
  • (transitive, obsolete, Scotland) Disuse.
    • Synonyms
    * maltreat, injure, revile, reproach, vilify, vituperate, asperse, traduce, malign * See also
    Derived terms
    * abusable * abusage * abuser
    Related terms
    * abusive * abusively * abusiveness

    References

    *

    Anagrams

    * English heteronyms ----

    devastation

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of devastating]], or the state of being devastated; a [[lay waste, laying waste.
  • * 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/nyregion/new-jersey-continues-to-cope-with-hurricane-sandy.html?hp]," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):
    • Perhaps as startling as the sheer toll was the devastation to some of the state’s well-known locales. Boardwalks along the beach in Seaside Heights, Belmar and other towns on the Jersey Shore were blown away. Amusement parks, arcades and restaurants all but vanished. Bridges to barrier islands buckled, preventing residents from even inspecting the damage to their property.
  • Waste of the goods of the deceased by an executor or administrator.