an abortive military coupabortivea‧bor‧tive /əˈbɔːtɪv $ əˈbɔːr-/ adjective 
an abortive military coupabortive attempt/effort an abortive attempt to reform local government
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- Any abortive treatment must have a very rapid action because of the pain crescendo characteristic of these headaches.
- Brunel had also commissioned him to prepare an abortive scheme for him for a house at Watcombe in 1851.
- He then tried out these elements on an abortive design for Halifax Town Hall, before the competition officially had started.
- My conversation with the Ministry seemed to take ages, and, as I had already anticipated, it proved abortive.
- The attack against Beaumont-Hamel proved abortive, and a thrust made by the Third Army against Gommecourt failed utterly.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY an abortive military coup an abortive attempt to reform local governmentCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
an abortive action is not successful: an abortive military coup an abortive attempt to reform local government formal (=unsuccessful)· They made an abortive attempt to keep the company going.
(=one that did not succeed)· There was an attempted coup against Togo’s military dictator.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· In 1909 an abortive attempt was made, by the present owner's grandfather, to produce hydroelectric power.· An abortive attempt was made by Aprista newspapers to prove that the university had misappropriated public funds.· He soon drifted away from his hometown to Rome, where he made an abortive attempt to complete law school.
· Rumblings from recent abortive coup plots coupled with an erosion of army discipline have reportedly weakened Guei's grip on the military.· The charges against Enrile arose from the abortive coup attempt of December 1989, the most serious military insurrection Aquino to date.
an abortive military coupabortive attempt/effort an abortive attempt to reform local government