Abortive: The word "abortive" has a number of meanings including prematurely born; fruitless or unsuccessful; imperfectly formed or developed; tending to cut short.
In everyday language, the sense of "abortive" to mean prematurely born, as "an abortive child," is largely obsolete today. The main meaning of "abortive" in ordinary English is fruitless or unsuccessful, as an "abortive enterprise" or an "abortive effort."
In biology, "abortive" means imperfectly formed or developed or rudimentary as, an "abortive organ."
In medicine, "abortive" has two meanings: one, causing abortion, as an "abortive medicine," is rarely used nowadays; the other meaning, that of tending to cut short is quite commonly used in medicine, as in the "abortive treatment of typhoid fever" or "abortive polio": polio cut short.
adjective 1. failing to succeed; unsuccessful: an abortive rebellion; an abortive scheme. 2. born prematurely. 3. imperfectly developed; rudimentary. 4. Medicine ...
Definition of ABORTIVE. 1. obsolete: prematurely born . 2: fruitless, unsuccessful. 3: imperfectly formed or developed . 4: tending to cut short — abor·tive·ly adverb
adj. Failing to accomplish an intended objective; fruitless: an abortive attempt to conclude the negotiations. Biology . Partially or imperfectly developed: an ...
a·bor·tive (-bôr t v) adj. 1. Failing to accomplish an intended objective; fruitless: an abortive attempt to conclude the negotiations. 2. Biology Partially or ...
Produced by abortion; born prematurely; as an abortive child. · (obsolete) Made from the skin of a still-born animal; as an abortive vellum. · (obsolete ...