aborted; aborting; aborts
1
: to bring forth stillborn, nonviable, or premature offspring
2
: to become checked in development so as to degenerate or remain rudimentary
3
: to terminate a procedure prematurely
the pilot decided to abort due to mechanical difficulties
1
a
: to induce the abortion of or give birth to prematurely
b
: to terminate the pregnancy of before term
2
a
: to terminate prematurely : cancel
abort a project
abort a spaceflight
b
: to stop in the early stages
abort a disease
aborter
noun
: the premature termination of a flight (as of an aircraft or spacecraft), a mission, or an action or procedure relating to a flight
a launch abort
Synonyms
Examples of abort in a Sentence
Verb
They decided to abort the pregnancy.
abort the launch of a rocket
I suggest that you abort the project.
The mission had to be aborted.
When problems occurred during the launch, it was necessary to abort.
Recent Examples on the Web
Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 5 Sep. 2024
Walker Buehler aborted his initial attempt to come back from his latest elbow reconstruction.
—Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2024
Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 1 Aug. 2024
Once that is complete, NASA will transfer the spacecraft to different facilities at Kennedy for fueling and installation of its launch abort system.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 25 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for abort 
Verb
Unfortunately, he was forced to abort his first attempt last summer after just over 12 miles because his support crew boat kept getting swept off-course.
—Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 5 Sep. 2024
Walker Buehler aborted his initial attempt to come back from his latest elbow reconstruction.
—Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2024
Noun
After engineers determined the cause of the glitch that triggered the abort, ADRAS-J fired thrusters to approach the upper stage again this month.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 1 Aug. 2024
Once that is complete, NASA will transfer the spacecraft to different facilities at Kennedy for fueling and installation of its launch abort system.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 25 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for abort
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abort.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near abort
Cite this Entry
“Abort.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abort. Accessed 16 Sep. 2024.
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Legal Definition
abort
transitive verb
: to induce the expulsion of (a human fetus)
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