abet

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To approve, encourage, and support (an action or a plan of action); urge and help on.
2. v. To urge, encourage, or help (a person): abetted the thief in robbing the bank.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To encourage by aid or approval: used with a personal object, and chiefly in a bad sense.
2. To maintain; support; uphold.
3. 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.
4. Hence To lead to or encourage the commission of.
5. Synonyms To support, encourage, second, countenance, aid, assist, back, connive at, stand by, further.
6. n. The act of aiding or encouraging, especially in a crime.

Wiktionary

1. v. To assist or encourage by aid or countenance, especially in crime.
2. v. To support, countenance, maintain, uphold, or aid any cause, opinion, or action; to maintain; -- (Obsolete) in a good sense.
3. v. To support, uphold, or aid; to maintain.
4. v. To urge on, stimulate (a person to do something) - first known use 1390
5. v. To back up one's forecast of a doubtful issue, by staking money, etc, to bet.
6. n. An act of abetting; of helping; of giving aid.
7. v. To assist or encourage by aid or countenance, especially in crime.
8. v. To support, countenance, maintain, uphold, or aid any cause, opinion, or action; to maintain; -- (Obsolete) in a good sense.
9. v. To support, uphold, or aid; to maintain.
10. v. To urge on, stimulate (a person to do something) - first known use 1390
11. v. To back up one's forecast of a doubtful issue, by staking money, etc, to bet.
12. n. An act of abetting; of helping; of giving aid.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To instigate or encourage by aid or countenance; -- used in a bad sense of persons and acts
2. v. To support, uphold, or aid; to maintain; -- in a good sense.
3. v. To contribute, as an assistant or instigator, to the commission of an offense.
4. n. Act of abetting; aid.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing