Abortive

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Abortive \A*bor"tive\, a. [L. abortivus, fr. aboriri. See
     {Abort}, v.]
     1. Produced by abortion.as, an abortive child. [R.]
        [1913 Webster + AS]
  
     2. Made from the skin of a still-born animal; as, abortive


        vellum. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Rendering fruitless or ineffectual. [Obs.] "Plunged in
        that abortive gulf." --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Coming to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying;
        fruitless; unsuccessful; as, an abortive attempt. "An
        abortive enterprise." --Prescott.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Biol.) Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary;
        sterile; as, an abortive organ, stamen, ovule, etc. AS
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. (Med.)
        (a) Causing abortion; as, abortive medicines. --Parr. AS
        (b) Cutting short the period of an illness; as, abortive
            treatment of typhoid fever.
            [1913 Webster + AS]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Abortive \A*bor"tive\, n.
     1. That which is born or brought forth prematurely; an
        abortion. [Obs.] --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A fruitless effort or issue. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Med.) A medicine to which is attributed the property of
        causing abortion; -- also called an {abortifacient}.
        --Dunglison.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  abortive
       adj : failing to accomplish an intended result; "an abortive
             revolt"; "a stillborn plot to assassinate the
             President" [syn: {stillborn}, {unsuccessful}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  37 Moby Thesaurus words for "abortive":
     barren, bootless, failed, failing, fruitless, futile, gainless,
     immature, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, lame, manque,
     miscarried, miscarrying, nonremunerative, of no effect, otiose,
     profitless, rewardless, sterile, stickit, stillborn, successless,
     unavailable, unavailing, unformed, unfortunate, unmatured,
     unproductive, unprofitable, unremunerative, unrewarding, unripe,
     unsuccessful, useless, vain