Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To approve, encourage, and support (an action or a plan of action); urge and help on.
- v. To urge, encourage, or help (a person): abetted the thief in robbing the bank.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To encourage by aid or approval: used with a personal object, and chiefly in a bad sense.
- To maintain; support; uphold.
- In law, to encourage, counsel, incite, or assist in a criminal act — implying, in the case of felony, personal presence. Thus, in military law, it is a grave crime to aid or abet a mutiny or sedition, or excite resistance against lawful orders. In Scots law, a person is said to be abetting though he may only protect a criminal, conceal him from justice, or aid him in making his escape.
- Hence To lead to or encourage the commission of.
- Synonyms To support, encourage, second, countenance, aid, assist, back, connive at, stand by, further.
- n. The act of aiding or encouraging, especially in a crime.
Wiktionary
- v. obsolete To back up one's forecast of a doubtful issue, by staking money, etc., to bet.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To instigate or encourage by aid or countenance; -- used in a bad sense of persons and acts
- v. obsolete To support, uphold, or aid; to maintain; -- in a good sense.
- v. (Law) To contribute, as an assistant or instigator, to the commission of an offense.
- n. obsolete Act of abetting; aid.
WordNet 3.0
- v. assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing
Etymologies
- Middle English abetten, from Old French abeter, to entice : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + beter, to bait; see bheid- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“* The proposed five-year sentence for those who "abet" a same-sex relationship is greater than the punishment stipulated in the bill for those who enter into a "same gender marriage.”
“The proposed five-year sentence for those who "abet" a same-sex relationship is greater than the punishment stipulated in the bill for those who enter into a "same gender marriage.”
“And the very first item is talking about how the Army is aiding and abetting (did you catch their use of the word "abet"?”
“They aid and abet, with tax money from our government.”
“We've looked at every civilian assistance program and contract and we've said, 'look, we're not going to just aid and abet bad behavior.”
“It will likely mark a turning point in the government's effort to pursue those who aid and abet organized crime and mark a new low for public trust in the government's ability to address the problem.”
The Wall Street Journal: Controversial Mexican Politician Freed on Weapons Charges
“Thus, the President argued a limited moral case for the merits of the war, a projection of force in self-defense against those who would harbor, aid, and abet those who attacked us.”
“But a vote for him will aid and abet a Democratic leadership that's hell bent on an expansion of government that's a radical departure from the nation's bedrock principles and ruinous in its economic implications.”
The Washington Post: Daily Press: A Vote for Rigell is a Vote for Bush!
“It is high time we put an end to or radically reform environments that aid and abet such behavior.”
The Huffington Post: Christopher Atamian: Sandusky, Paterno and College Football: the Bigger Picture
“LIEBERMAN COULD BE THE DECIDING VOTE IN THE 112TH CONGRESS - The Hill's J.T. Rushing anticipates a charred, post-apocalyptic legislative wasteland where even resolutions acknowledging the contributions of Boys and Girls Club volunteers are held up for months so one light bulb-headed man can take more time to mull over how it will aide and abet Hezbollah.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘abet’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Muse's tacet ,to learn
Music brings silence's to raging thoughts and temperament , calm, as it is our object of definite purpose.
tacet, cadence, tempo, treble clef, penultimate, lexicon, origin, orchestra, kantele, magus, eros, coalesce and 248 more...
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AFET - diplomacy
broker a peace ac..., client state, deadlocked peace ..., embassy, freeze, goodwill ambassador, hinterland, interfere in dome..., intervene personally, maintain technica..., mediation, no business as usual and 670 more...
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common UA vocab. in US
Interesting, there is a traditional vocabulary of an Ukrainian, that differs from vocabulary of average American. It would be nice to explore it.
jackdaw, incongruous, cassock, vivid, magpie, humdrum, amongst, wonder, wandering, wheedling, wheedle, osseous and 368 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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A to abominator (Chambers)
aa gets over 40 hits
aardvark 49 hits
abbatoir 103 hits
abjure 138 hitsA, A-line, A-list, A-lister, A 1, A-road, A-side, from A to B, from A to Z, A-bomb, A-effect, A level and 254 more...
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January 2012
bloviate, pastiche, apparat, facile, paroxysm, pique, bedfellow, pedigree, tutelage, protege, protégé, retroactive and 196 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 567 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Assist
abet, advocate, ancillary, bolster, corroborate, countenance, espouse, munificent, mainstay, proponent, stalwart, sustenance
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SAT words
abase, abate, abet, abject, abjure, abrogate, abscond, abstruse, accolade, accommodating, accost, accretion and 202 more...
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5000 FREE SAT Words
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 229 more...
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Vocab [General]
No particular specification to this list.
philology, etymology, atavistic, proscribe, inchoate, vulgate, abstruse, agnate, anodize, anthropomorphic, assiduous, augur and 89 more...
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Favorites
disparage, partisan, cupidity, hokum, tussle, odious, dastardly, overture, plane, chronic, peering, peer and 328 more...
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Good for Academics
Gahh!! Study!
supplant, usurp, finagle, winnow, draconian, abut, collude, swindle, objectify, incite, decadent, obstinate and 327 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
Tweets
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