If one person abets another, they help or encourage them to do something criminal or wrong. Abet is often used in the legal expression ' aid and abet'. [law, formal]
His wife was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for aiding and abetting him. [VERB noun]
2. verb
To abet something, especially something bad or undesirable, means to make it possible. [journalism, or formal, disapproval]
The media have also abetted the feeling of unreality. [VERB noun]