Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To approve, encourage, and support (an action or a plan of action); urge and help on.
- transitive v. To urge, encourage, or help (a person): abetted the thief in robbing the bank.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- v. To back up one's forecast of a doubtful issue, by staking money, etc., to bet.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. Act of abetting; aid.
- transitive v. To instigate or encourage by aid or countenance; -- used in a bad sense of persons and acts
- transitive v. To support, uphold, or aid; to maintain; -- in a good sense.
- transitive v. To contribute, as an assistant or instigator, to the commission of an offense.
from The 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.
- 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.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Examples
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* 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."
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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."
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And the very first item is talking about how the Army is aiding and abetting (did you catch their use of the word "abet"?
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They aid and abet, with tax money from our government.
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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.'
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"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."
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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.
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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.
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It is high time we put an end to or radically reform environments that aid and abet such behavior.
Christopher Atamian: Sandusky, Paterno and College Football: the Bigger Picture
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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.
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