3 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

violate

verb

1: fail to agree with; be in violation of; as of rules or patterns; "This sentence violates the rules of syntax" [syn: {go against}, {break}] [ant: {conform to}]

2: act in disregard of laws and rules; "offend all laws of humanity"; "violate the basic laws or human civilization"; "break a law" [syn: {transgress}, {offend}, {infract}, {go against}, {breach}, {break}]

3: destroy; "Don't violate my garden"; "violate my privacy"

4: violate the sacred character of a place or language; "desecrate a cemetary"; "violate the sanctity of the church"; "profane the name of God" [syn: {desecrate}, {profane}, {outrage}]

5: force (someone) to have sex against their will; "The woman was raped on her way home at night" [syn: {rape}, {ravish}, {assault}, {dishonor}, {dishonour}, {outrage}]

6: destroy and strip of its possession; "The soldiers raped the beautiful country" [syn: {rape}, {spoil}, {despoil}, {plunder}]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Violate \Vi"o*late\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Violates}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Violating}.] [L. violatus, p. p. of violare to violate, fr. vis strength, force. See {Violent}.]

1. To treat in a violent manner; to abuse.

His wife Boadicea violated with stripes, his daughters with rape. --Milton.

2. To do violence to, as to anything that should be held sacred or respected; to profane; to desecrate; to break forcibly; to trench upon; to infringe.

Violated vows 'Twixt the souls of friend and friend. --Shak.

Oft have they violated The temple, oft the law, with foul affronts. --Milton.

3. To disturb; to interrupt. ''Employed, it seems, to violate sleep.'' --Milton.

4. To commit rape on; to ravish; to outrage.

Syn: To injure; disturb; interrupt; infringe; transgress; profane; deflour; debauch; dishonor.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

183 Moby Thesaurus words for "violate": abuse, adulterate, afflict, aggrieve, alloy, assault, assault sexually, attack, barbarize, batter, befoul, betray, bewitch, blight, breach, breach the law, break, break the law, brutalize, burn, butcher, canker, care naught for, carry on, cheapen, circumvent the law, coarsen, commit a crime, condemn, confound, contaminate, contravene, convert, corrupt, crucify, curse, damage, debase, debauch, deceive, defalcate, defile, deflorate, deflower, defy, degenerate, degrade, denature, deprave, desecrate, despoil, destroy, devalue, devirginate, disadvantage, dishonor, disobey, disobey the law, disregard, disregard the law, disserve, distort, distress, divert, do a mischief, do evil, do ill, do violence to, do wrong, do wrong by, doom, embezzle, envenom, err, flout, force, foul, get into trouble, go counter to, go on, hammer, harass, harm, hex, hurt, ignore, impair, infect, infract, infringe, injure, jinx, lay waste, lead astray, loot, maladminister, maltreat, maul, menace, misapply, misappropriate, misemploy, mishandle, mislead, mismanage, mistreat, misuse, molest, mug, not conform, not heed, not keep, not listen, not mind, not observe, offend, outrage, overpass, peculate, persecute, pervert, pilfer, pillage, play havoc with, play hob with, poison, pollute, possess sexually, prejudice, profane, prostitute, rage, ramp, rampage, rant, rape, ravage, rave, ravish, refuse to cooperate, riot, roar, ruin, sack, savage, scathe, scoff at, seduce, set at defiance, set at naught, set naught by, sin, slaughter, soil, sow chaos, spoil, storm, sully, taint, take, tear, tear around, terrorize, threaten, torment, torture, trample, trample on, trample underfoot, trample upon, transgress, trespass, twist, ulcerate, vandalize, violate the law, vitiate, vulgarize, warp, wound, wreak havoc on, wreck, wrong

  Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information.