to bring forth a fetus from the uterus before the fetus is viable; miscarry.
to develop incompletely; remain in a rudimentary or undeveloped state.
to fail, cease, or stop at an early or premature stage.
Military. to fail to accomplish a purpose or mission for any reason other than enemy action.
Rocketry. (of a missile) to stop before the scheduled flight is completed.
verb (used with object)
to cause to bring forth (a fetus) from the uterus before the fetus is viable.
to cause (a pregnant female) to be delivered of a nonviable fetus.
to cause to cease or end at an early or premature stage: We aborted our vacation when the car broke down.
to terminate (a missile flight, mission, etc.) before completion.
to put down or quell in the early stages: Troops aborted the uprising.
noun
a missile, rocket, etc., that has aborted.
Origin of abort
1570–80; <Latin abortus miscarried (past participle of aborīrī to disappear, miscarry) equivalent to ab-ab- + -or- come into being + -tus past participle suffix
If the NFT thinks the TAGSAM arm is coming down on something dangerous flagged by the hazard map, it will automatically execute an abort burn that moves the spacecraft up and away from the surface.
A NASA spacecraft is about to scoop up some asteroid rubble|Neel Patel|October 14, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Because the abort was triggered just before the rocket's main RS-68 engines had begun to ignite, the delay before the next launch attempt may be less than a week.
Delta IV Heavy scrubs again, ULA chief vows to change readiness operations|Eric Berger|October 1, 2020|Ars Technica
Ellen makes her choice, and she throws herself down the stairs to abort the baby.
Why Deny the Obvious: Hollywood’s Backward Stance on Abortion|Teo Bugbee|June 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton.
What Cliven Bundy’s Famous Backers Said, Before and After|Olivia Nuzzi|April 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Well, Sarah Palin is travelling across the country alerting people that “angry atheists” want to “abort Christ from Christmas.”
It’s Conservatives Who Really Want Christ Out of Christmas|Dean Obeidallah|December 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
All of a sudden, Mission Control (voiced by Ed Harris, paying homage to Apollo 13) orders the team to abort immediately.
Alfonso Cuarón On His Spellbinding Sci-Fi Film ‘Gravity,’ Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney|Marlow Stern|September 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Stand with the pink-sneakered Texas legislator and her fight to allow mothers to abort babies past the 20th week of pregnancy?
Kirsten Powers: I Don’t Stand With Wendy Davis|Kirsten Powers|July 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Cows during the first two or three months of gestation are almost sure to abort.
Barium, A Cause of the Loco-Weed Disease|Albert Cornelius Crawford
During the abort dialogue of the magistrate with Adrienne, their backs were both turned to Baleinier and Rodin.
The Wandering Jew, Complete|Eugene Sue
This mat is abort four feet square, and when folded has one end sewn up, so that it forms a kind of sack open at one side.
The Malay Archipelago|Alfred Russell Wallace
Some appearances make me think that they abort by becoming confluent with the main petiole.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II|Charles Darwin
Diseases and other accidents may sometimes hinder the development of good dispositions, or even cause them to abort completely.
The Sexual Question|August Forel
British Dictionary definitions for abort
abort
/ (əˈbɔːt) /
verb
to undergo or cause (a woman) to undergo the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is viable
(tr)to cause (a fetus) to be expelled from the womb before it is viable
(intr)to fail to come to completion; go wrong
(tr)to stop the development of; cause to be abandoned
(intr)to give birth to a dead or nonviable fetus
(of a space flight, military operation, etc) to fail or terminate prematurely
(intr)(of an organism or part of an organism) to fail to develop into the mature form
noun
the premature termination or failure of (a space flight, military operation, etc)
Word Origin for abort
C16: from Latin abortāre, from the past participle of aborīrī to miscarry, from ab- wrongly, badly + orīrī to appear, arise, be born