abortive attempt

  • 1abortive attempt — index frustration, miscarriage Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 2abortive attempt — failed attempt, effort that did not succeed …

    English contemporary dictionary

  • 3Abortive — A*bor tive, a. [L. abortivus, fr. aboriri. See {Abort}, v.] 1. Produced by abortion; born prematurely; as, an abortive child. [R.] [1913 Webster] 2. Made from the skin of a still born animal; as, abortive vellum. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] 3.… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 4abortive — abortive, aborted The central meaning of abortive since the time of Shakespeare has been ‘coming to nought, fruitless, useless, unsuccessful’. It can be applied to attempts, efforts, missions, coups, and rebellions, negotations, proposals, etc.,… …

    Modern English usage

  • 5abortive — a|bor|tive [əˈbo:tıv US əˈbo:r ] adj an abortive action is not successful ▪ an abortive military coup abortive attempt/effort ▪ an abortive attempt to reform local government …

    Dictionary of contemporary English

  • 6abortive — adjective an abortive action is not successful: an abortive military coup | abortive attempt/effort: an abortive attempt to reform local government …

    Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • 7abortive — [[t]əbɔ͟ː(r)tɪv[/t]] ADJ: usu ADJ n An abortive attempt or action is unsuccessful. [FORMAL] ...an abortive attempt to prevent the current President from taking office. Syn: failed …

    English dictionary

  • 8abortive — adjective a) Produced by abortion; born prematurely; as an abortive child. , Plunged in that abortive gulf. b) Coming to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying; fruitless; unsuccessful; …

    Wiktionary

  • 9abortive — a|bor|tive [ ə bɔrtıv ] adjective not finished and therefore not successful: an abortive takeover bid by the larger company an abortive attempt to climb Mt. Everest …

    Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • 10abortive — UK [əˈbɔː(r)tɪv] / US [əˈbɔrtɪv] adjective not finished and therefore not successful an abortive takeover bid by the larger company an abortive attempt to climb Mt Everest …

    English dictionary