Abuse
A Dictionary of Law · William C. Anderson · 1889
A Dictionary of Law
3 1.
An improper use; a custom or practice contrary to the intendment of law or to good morals. Common expressions are: the abuse of authority, of discretion, of a thing bailed, of process, of a distress, of a prisoner; of the hberty of free speech; of a, witness, qq. u.
2.
The synonym of injure; in its largest sense, ill-use or improper treatment of another person or of a dumb animal. Compare Cruelty. In a statute punishing the deflowering of a female child, is limited by the words with which it is connected referring to the same subject-matter. The term itself includes physical injury, which is alsoincluded in the words " carnally knew." Our statutes, following the English, describe the offense by the words " unlawfully and carnally know and abuse any woman child under the age of ten years." * See Sesjuo-