(countable, uncountable) An incorrect, improper or unlawful use of something.
The Queen may be celebrating her jubilee but the Queen's English Society, which has railed against the misuse and deterioration of the English language, is to fold. 2012 June 4, Lewis Smith, “Queen’s English Society says enuf is enough, innit?: Society formed 40 years ago to protect language against poor spelling and grammar closes because too few people care”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 10 Mar 2016:
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misuses
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Translations (27)
de missbräuchliche Nutzung/Verwendung (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · eo misuzo (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · fr mésusage (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · sq shpërdoroj (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · ko 오용 (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · kea abuzá (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · de Zweckentfremdung (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · da misbrug (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · de Fehlgebrauch (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · cs zneužití (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · wa mezuzance (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · nn misbruk (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · nb misbruk (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · it abuso (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · id penyalahgunaan (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · ms salah guna (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · de Fehlbedienung (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · ml ദുരുപയോഗം (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · de Missbrauch (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · kea abuza (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · hu visszaélés (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · bg злоупотреба (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · hi दुरुपयोग (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · el κατάχρηση (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · vo migeb (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · es mal uso (incorrect, improper or unlawful use) · fi väärinkäyttö (incorrect, improper or unlawful use)
(transitive) To abuse or mistreat (something or someone).
(transitive) To rape (a woman); later more generally, to sexually abuse (someone).
“If that is true she would be the first case I have ever heard of, as most female captives are misused by the entire tribe.” 2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 326:
(obsolete, transitive) To abuse verbally, to insult.
Socrates was brought upon the stage by Aristophanes, and misused to his face: but he laughed, as if it concerned him not […]. 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 7:
de zweckentfremden (to use something incorrectly) · eo misuzi (to use something incorrectly) · fi väärinkäyttää (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · hu visszaél (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · de missbrauchen (to use something incorrectly) · es abusar (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · it usare impropriamente (to use something incorrectly) · fi käyttää hyväksi (to abuse sexually) · fi kohdella väärin (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · fi väkisinmaata (to abuse sexually) · vo migebön (to use something incorrectly) · vo migebön (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · bg блудствам (to abuse sexually) · bg злоупотребявам (to use something incorrectly) · bg отнасям се лошо с (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · fi käyttää väärin (to use something incorrectly) · cs zneužít (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · it abusare (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · hi दुरुपयोग करना (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · it abusare (to abuse sexually) · fi raiskata (to abuse sexually) · ru злоупотребля́ть (to use something incorrectly) · id menyalahgunakan (to use something incorrectly) · it stuprare (to abuse sexually) · la abūtor (to use something incorrectly) · it violentare (to abuse sexually) · mi raukoti (to abuse or mistreat something or someone) · de missbrauchen (to abuse or mistreat something or someone)