From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Abortive \A*bor"tive\, adjective [L. abortivus, fr. aboriri. See {Abort}, v.]
1. Produced by abortion; born prematurely; as, an abortive child. [R.]
2. Made from the skin of a still-born animal; as, abortive vellum. [Obs.]
3. Rendering fruitless or ineffectual. [Obs.] ''Plunged in that abortive gulf.'' --Milton.
4. Coming to naught; failing in its effect; miscarrying; fruitless; unsuccessful; as, an abortive attempt. ''An abortive enterprise.'' --Prescott.
5. (Biol.) Imperfectly formed or developed; rudimentary; sterile; as, an abortive organ, stamen, ovule, etc.
6. (Med.) (a) Causing abortion; as, abortive medicines. --Parr. (b) Cutting short; as, abortive treatment of typhoid fever.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
1. That which is born or brought forth prematurely; an abortion. [Obs.] --Shak.
2. A fruitless effort or issue. [Obs.]
3. 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]:
adjective
1: 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
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