To miscarry; to bring forth young prematurely. [1913 Webster]
To become checked in normal development, so as either to remain rudimentary or shrink away wholly; to become sterile. [1913 Webster]
to stop, cease, or fail prior to normal completion. [PJC]

Abort, v. t.

to cause (an action or process) to stop at an early stage, or before normal completion; as, to abort a rocket flight. [PJC]

Abort, n. [L. abortus, fr. aboriri.].

An untimely birth. Sir H. Wotton. [1913 Webster]
An aborted offspring. Holland. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

Abort, v. & n.
--v.
1 intr. a (of a woman) undergo abortion; miscarry. b (of a foetus) suffer abortion.
2 tr. a effect the abortion of (a foetus). b effect abortion in (a mother).
3 a tr. cause to end fruitlessly or prematurely; stop in the early stages. b intr. end unsuccessfully or prematurely.
4 a tr. abandon or terminate (a space flight or other technical project) before its completion, usu. because of a fault. b intr. terminate or fail to complete such an undertaking.
5 Biol. a intr. (of an organism) remain undeveloped; shrink away. b tr. cause to do this.
--n.
1 a prematurely terminated space flight or other undertaking.
2 the termination of such an undertaking.

Etymology

L aboriri miscarry (as AB-, oriri ort- be born)

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THESAURUS

Abort

abandon, belay, cancel, cease, close, conclude, cut it out, desist, determine, discontinue, drop it, end, finish, finish up, give over, go amiss, go astray, go wrong, halt, have done with, hold, knock it off, lay off, leave off, miscarry, perorate, quit, refrain, relinquish, renounce, resolve, scrap, scratch, scrub, stay, stop, terminate, wind up

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ROGET THESAURUS

Abort

Failure

VB fail, be unsuccessful, not succeed, make vain efforts, do in vain, labor in vain, toil in vain, flunk, lose one's labor, take nothing by one's motion, bring to naught, make nothing of, wash a blackamoor white, roll the stones of Sisyphus, do by halves, lose ground, fall short of, miss, miss one's aim, miss the mark, miss one's footing, miss stays, slip, trip, stumble, make a slip, blunder, make a mess of, make a botch of, bitch it, miscarry, abort, go up like a rocket and come down like the stick, come down in flames, get shot down, reckon without one's host, get the wrong pig by the tail, get the wrong sow by the ear, limp, halt, hobble, titubate, fall, tumble, lose one's balance, fall to the ground, fall between two stools, flounder, falter, stick in the mud, run aground, split upon a rock, beat one's head against a stone wall, run one's head against a stone wall, knock one's head against a stone wall, dash one's head against a stone wall, break one's back, break down, sink, drown, founder, have the ground cut from under one, get into trouble, get into a mess, get into a scrape, come to grief, go to the wall, go to the dogs, go to pot, lick the dust, bite the dust, be defeated, have the worst of it, lose the day, come off second best, lose, fall a prey to, succumb, not have a leg to stand on, come to nothing, end in smoke, flat out, fall to the ground, fall through, fall dead, fall stillborn, fall flat, slip through one's fingers, hang fire, miss fire, flash in the pan, collapse, topple down, go to wrack and ruin, go amiss, go wrong, go cross, go hard with, go on a wrong tack, go on ill, come off ill, turn out ill, work ill, take a wrong term, take an ugly term, take an ugly turn, take a turn for the worse, be all over with, be all up with, explode, dash one's hopes, defeat the purpose, sow the wind and reap the whirlwind, jump out of the frying pan into the fire, go from the frying pan into the fire.

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