abort

noun

(computing) The function used to abort a process.

(computing) An event in which a process is aborted.

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

(now rare) The product of a miscarriage; an aborted offspring; an abortion.

(obsolete) A miscarriage; an untimely birth; an abortion.

verb

(transitive, intransitive) To cause a premature termination of (a fetus); to end a pregnancy before term.

(transitive) To end prematurely; to stop in the preliminary stages; to turn back.

(intransitive) To stop or fail at something in the preliminary stages.

(transitive, computing) To terminate a process prior to completion.

(intransitive, military) To abandon a mission at any point after the beginning of the mission and prior to its completion.

(transitive, aeronautics) To terminate a mission involving a missile or rocket; to destroy a missile or rocket prematurely.

(intransitive, biology) To become checked in normal development, so as either to remain rudimentary or shrink away wholly; to cease organic growth before maturation; to become sterile.

(transitive, biology) To cause an organism to develop minimally; to cause rudimentary development to happen; to prevent maturation.

(intransitive, now rare outside medicine) To miscarry; to bring forth (non-living) offspring prematurely.

Roots

abab- · Latin · away from orior-ort · Latin · rise, arise

Synonyms for abort

miscarryv terminatev cancelv abandonv discontinuev

Synonyms & related words for abort

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of abort — including miscarry, terminate, cancel, abandon, discontinue. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to abort

Explore words related to abort — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include abortions, aborticide, miscarriage, feticide, abortifacient, abortively, abortive, abortionist. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for abort

Common synonyms for abort include miscarry, terminate, cancel, abandon, discontinue — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does abort come from?

The word abort breaks down into 2 roots of Latin origin: ab-, from Latin ab (“away from”); and -ort, from Latin orior (“rise, arise”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.