misuse

Everyday

1. Verb: to use something in a wrong, careless or harmful way. tree →
2. Noun: wrong or harmful use: misuse of medicine, misuse of power. tree →
3. Verb: to treat someone badly or unfairly (old-fashioned). tree →

In the lessons

In safety lessons misuse of medicines, fire alarms or emergency numbers is dangerous and sometimes against the law. In computing, misuse of passwords or someone's data is wrong. In grammar lessons you correct the misuse of words like «their» and «there».

Examples

• Misuse of the fire alarm can get you into big trouble. tree →
• Don't misuse the scissors — they are for paper only. tree →
• Drug misuse harms health. tree →
• He misused the word «literally». tree →
• Calling 999 for a joke is a misuse of the emergency line. tree →
• The manager was sacked for misuse of company money. tree →

Note

Noun and verb are spelled the same but said differently (-yoos vs -yooz). Compare «abuse» (stronger, often cruel) and «overuse» (too much).