i Register
In some senses, abortive is marked as obsolete, rare. Watch for register when choosing this word.
abortive
/əˈbɔɹ.tɪv/
adj 5noun 4verb 1
Collocations
4ADJ.
considered, elvish-marked, proved
ABORTIVE + NOUN
child, fever, hog, production, typhoid
PREP.
in
ADV.
once
Definitions
adj
1
Produced by abortion; born prematurely and therefore unnatural.
an abortive child
Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!
2
Coming to nothing; failing in its effect. .
an abortive attempt
[…] and with utter loss of being / Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf.
3
Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile.
an abortive organ
an abortive stamen
4
Causing abortion; abortifacient.
abortive medicines
Each country may have a different prevalence of infectious abortive agents. The most common agents of abortion in cattle are Brucella spp., Campylobacter spp., Chlamydiaceae, Coxiella burnetii, Leptospira spp., […]
5
Cutting short; acting to halt or slow the progress (of a disease).
abortive treatment of typhoid fever
Even with prophylaxis, children often experience episodic breakthrough headaches that require abortive treatment. […] Abortive therapies in the ED include dopamine antagonists and anti-inflammatory agents.
noun
1
Someone or something born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion.
2
A fruitless effort.
3
A medicine that causes abortion, an abortifacient.
4
A medicine or treatment acting to halt or slow the progress of a disease.
Naphthalin was praised by Rosbach as an abortive in typhoid fever; Kraemer in 1886, Wilcox in 1887, Sehwald in 1889 and Wolff of Philadelphia in 1891 confirmed Rosbach's observations.
verb
1
To cause an abortion; to render without fruit.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
adjective — failing to accomplish an intended result
- stillborn
- unsuccessful
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
an abortive child
Wiktionary02
Thou elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!
Wiktionary03
an abortive attempt
Wiktionary04
Naphthalin was praised by Rosbach as an abortive in typhoid fever; Kraemer in 1886, Wilcox in 1887, Sehwald in 1889 and Wolff of Philadelphia in 1891 confirmed Rosbach's observations.
Wiktionary05
Their effort proved abortive.
Tatoeba · #30527406
This Anglo-Teutonic, castellated, gothized structure must be considered as an abortive production, at once illustrative of bad taste and defective judgment.
Tatoeba · #11250841Usage Notes
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