English Explanatory Dictionary

abort

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An early termination of a mission, action, or procedure in relation to missiles or spacecraft; the craft making such a mission.
  2. The function used to abort a process.
  3. An event in which a process is aborted.
  4. The product of a miscarriage; an aborted offspring; an abortion.
  5. A miscarriage; an untimely birth; an abortion.
verb
  1. To miscarry; to bring forth (non-living) offspring prematurely.
  2. To cause a premature termination of (a fetus); to end a pregnancy before term.
  3. To end prematurely; to stop in the preliminary stages; to turn back.
  4. To stop or fail at something in the preliminary stages.
  5. To become checked in normal development, so as either to remain rudimentary or shrink away wholly; to cease organic growth before maturation; to become sterile.
  6. To cause an organism to develop minimally; to cause rudimentary development to happen; to prevent maturation.
  7. To abandon a mission at any point after the beginning of the mission and prior to its completion.
  8. To terminate a mission involving a missile or rocket; to destroy a missile or rocket prematurely.
  9. To terminate a process prior to completion.

Pronunciation

/əˈbɔːt/ /əˈbɔɹt/ en-us-abort.ogg

Word forms

abort aborts aborting aborted

Etymology

From Middle English, from Latin abortus, perfect active participle of aborior (“miscarry”), formed from ab + orior (“to come into being”). Doublet of abortus.

Related words

abend exception

Derived words

abortable abortal abortation abortee aborter abortient abortifacient abortifactive abortificant abortion abortist abortive abortment abortogenic abortorium abortuary abortus misabort nonaborting pro-abort unabort
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