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Rampant vs Abuse - What's the difference?

rampant | abuse |

As an adjective rampant

is (originally) rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.

As a verb abuse is

.

rampant

English

Alternative forms

* rampaunt (obsolete)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (originally) Rearing on both hind legs with the forelegs extended.
  • * The Vienna riding school displays splendid rampant movement.
  • (heraldry) Rearing on its hind leg(s), with a foreleg raised and in profile.
  • * Thomas Hardy, The Well-Beloved
    • little pieces of moustache on his upper lip, like a pair of minnows rampant
  • (architecture) Tilted, said of an arch with one side higher than the other, or a vault whose two abutments are located on an inclined plane.
  • Unrestrained or unchecked, usually in a negative manner.
  • * Weeds are rampant in any neglected garden.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
    • , author=William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter , title=The British Longitude Act Reconsidered , volume=100, issue=2, page=87 , magazine= citation , passage=Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant , killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat.}}
  • * 2013 , Phil McNulty, " Man City 4-1 Man Utd", BBC Sport , 22 September 2013:
    • In contrast to the despair of his opposite number, it was a day of delight for new City boss Manuel Pellegrini as he watched the rampant Blues make a powerful statement about their Premier League ambitions.
  • Rife, or occurring widely, frequently or menacingly.
  • * There was rampant corruption in the city.

    • Derived terms

    * rampantly * rampant gardant * rampant regardant * rampant sejant, sejant rampant

    Related terms

    * ramp * rampage

    External links

    * * *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    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 ----