abort

plural aborts

1. aeronauticsAn 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.

2. computingThe function used to abort a process.
3. computingAn event in which a process is aborted.

   We've had three aborts over the last two days.

4. archaicThe product of a miscarriage; an aborted offspring; an abortion.First known use First attested in the early 17ᵗʰ century.
5. obsoleteA miscarriage; an untimely birth; an abortion.First known use Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the mid 17ᵗʰ century.

   In Japonia 'tis a common thing to stifle their children if they be poor, or to make an abort, which Aristotle commends.

   1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition I, section 2, member 4, subsection vi

present singular third person aborts · participle present aborting · participle past aborted · past aborted

1. intransitiveregionalmedicineTo miscarry; to bring forth (non-living) offspring prematurely.First known use First attested in the mid 16ᵗʰ century.

   In the study group ll patients aborted spontaneously between the 17th and 20th gestational week and 8 patients aborted after the 21st week.

   1983, M. D. Bennett, Chromosomes Today: Volume 8 Proceedings of the Eighth International Chromosome Conference, page 346

   1 more example

   Women have aborted, men have committed suicide, and both men and women have been thrown into convulsions during the fearful agony of renal colic.

   1785, Henry Morris, Surgical Diseases of the Kidney, page 458

2. intransitivetransitiveTo cause a premature termination of (a fetus); to end a pregnancy before term.First known use Attested since at least the 19ᵗʰ century.

   "Of course, you can't abort yourself...I mean you positively can't be allowed to. To begin with it's a crime."

   1961, Xavier Herbert, Soldiers' Women, Netley, SA: Fontana Books, published 1978, page 236

3. transitiveTo end prematurely; to stop in the preliminary stages; to turn back.First known use First attested in the late 16ᵗʰ century.
4. intransitiveTo stop or fail at something in the preliminary stages.First known use First attested in the late 16ᵗʰ century.
5. intransitivebiologyTo become checked in normal development, so as either to remain rudimentary or shrink away wholly; to cease organic growth before maturation; to become sterile.First known use First attested in the mid 19ᵗʰ century.
6. transitivebiologyTo cause an organism to develop minimally; to cause rudimentary development to happen; to prevent maturation.First known use First attested in the mid 19ᵗʰ century.
7. intransitivegovernmentTo abandon a mission at any point after the beginning of the mission and prior to its completion.First known use First attested in the mid 20ᵗʰ century.

   First he aborts the take-off and now we have a runway incursion!

   2022, Michael & Stefan Strasser, Chicken Wings (comic)

8. transitiveaeronauticsTo terminate a mission involving a missile or rocket; to destroy a missile or rocket prematurely.First known use First attested in the mid 20ᵗʰ century.
9. transitivecomputingTo terminate a process prior to completion.