abort

[uh-bawrt]

verb (used without object)

1. to bring forth a fetus from the uterus before the fetus is viable; miscarry.

2. to develop incompletely; remain in a rudimentary or undeveloped state.

3. to fail, cease, or stop at an early or premature stage.

4. Military.,  to fail to accomplish a purpose or mission for any reason other than enemy action.

5. Rocketry.,  (of a missile) to stop before the scheduled flight is completed.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to bring forth (a fetus) from the uterus before the fetus is viable.

2. to cause (a pregnant female) to be delivered of a nonviable fetus.

3. to cause to cease or end at an early or premature stage.

   We aborted our vacation when the car broke down.

4. to terminate (a missile flight, mission, etc.) before completion.

5. to put down or quell in the early stages.

   Troops aborted the uprising.

noun

1. a missile, rocket, etc., that has aborted.

abort

/ əˈbɔːt /

verb

1. to undergo or cause (a woman) to undergo the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is viable

2. (tr) to cause (a fetus) to be expelled from the womb before it is viable

3. (intr) to fail to come to completion; go wrong

4. (tr) to stop the development of; cause to be abandoned

5. (intr) to give birth to a dead or nonviable fetus

6. (of a space flight, military operation, etc) to fail or terminate prematurely

7. (intr) (of an organism or part of an organism) to fail to develop into the mature form

noun

1. the premature termination or failure of (a space flight, military operation, etc)

Other Word Forms

• unaborted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of abort¹

First recorded in 1570–80; from Latin abortus “miscarried,” past participle of aborīrī “to disappear, miscarry,” equivalent to ab- ab- + orīrī “to rise, come into being”; orient ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of abort¹

C16: from Latin abortāre, from the past participle of aborīrī to miscarry, from ab- wrongly, badly + orīrī to appear, arise, be born

Example Sentences

Leclerc's fastest time was his third attempt to do a lap on the soft tyres after aborting his first two runs.

From BBC

In another interview, Kennedy said, “The MMR vaccine contains a lot of aborted fetus debris.”

From Salon

“He said, ‘Mama, you could have given me up, you could have aborted me, you could have done all of those things and you chose to keep me,’” she recalls.

From Los Angeles Times

Some had been diverted to another airport and some aborted landings, deeming it too dangerous to go near the kites.

From BBC

But neither driver had an ideal run in the second session - Norris had to abort his first flying lap after a mistake at Turn Two, while Piastri had heavy traffic on his fastest.

From BBC

Related Words

• break off 
• cut off 
• halt 
• interrupt 
• nullify 
• scrap 
• scrub 
• terminate