Abort Definition

ə-bôrt

aborted, aborting, aborts

verb

To terminate (a pregnancy) by abortion.

American Heritage

To give birth before the embryo or fetus is viable; have a miscarriage.

Webster's New World

To end (a pregnancy) prematurely.

Webster's New World

To cause the expulsion of (an embryo or fetus) by abortion.

American Heritage

To fail to be completed.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
keep
carry to term
continue

noun

The act of aborting an undertaking or procedure.

American Heritage

A premature termination of a flight, mission, etc.

Webster's New World

(now rare) The product of a miscarriage; an aborted offspring; an abortion. [First attested in the early 17^th century.]

Wiktionary

(military, aeronautics) An early termination of a mission, action, or procedure in relation to missiles or spacecraft; the craft making such a mission.

We've had aborts on three of our last seven launches.

Wiktionary

(computing) The function used to abort a process.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Abort

Noun

Singular:

abort

Plural:

aborts

Origin of Abort

Latin abortāre frequentative of aborīrī abort- to disappear, miscarry ab- away ab–¹ orīrī to appear er-¹ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Middle English, from Latin abortus, perfect active participle of aborior (“miscarry”), formed from ab + orior (“come into being”).

From Wiktionary
From Latin abortare, from abortus, from aboriri (“miscarry”), from ab- (“not”) + oriri (“come into being, arise, appear”).

From Wiktionary