abet
/əˈbɛt/
abet verb: to incite; to assist or encourage by aid or countenance in crime.
Verb
abet (third-person singular simple present abets, present participle abetting, simple past and past participle abetted)
- To incite; to assist or encourage by aid or countenance in crime.
- aid and abet
- Those who would exalt themselves by abetting the strength of the Godless, and the wrength of the oppressors.1823, John Galt, Ringan Gilhaize or The Covenanters
- To support, countenance, maintain, uphold, or aid (any good cause, opinion, or action).
- Our duty is urged, and our confidence abetted.a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, edited by George Rust, The whole works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, published 1835
- The elements, however, abetted me in making a path through the deepest snow in the woods, for when I had once gone through the wind blew the oak leaves into my tracks, where they lodged, and by absorbing the rays of the sun melted the snow, and so not only made a dry bed for my feet, but in the...1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC
- To urge on, stimulate (a person to do) something desirable.
- To back up one's forecast of a doubtful issue, by staking money, etc., to bet.
Noun
abet (plural abets)
- Fraud or cunning.
- An act of abetting; of helping; of giving aid.
abet meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
abet in Tamil
- உதவு, தூண்டு, உடந்தையாக இரு, துணையாயிரு, ஆதரவாய் இரு
abet in Urdu
- تحریص, ترغیب
abet in Bengali
- অসৎ কার্যে সাহায্য করা
abet in Malayalam
- പ്രേരണ നൽകൽ, കുറ്റത്തിന് പ്രേരണ നൽകൽ
More languagesFewer languages
- abet in Kannada
- ಒತ್ತಾಸೆ ಕೊಡು
- abet in Indonesian
- abet
- abet in Persian
- همدستی کردن hamdasti kardan
- abet in Vietnamese
- xúi bẩy, xúi giục, khích, tiếp tay
Examples of abet in a sentence
- The Statute provides that whoever has been engaged in aiding, abetting, or assisting, directly or indirectly, is criminal.1851, Charles G. Davis, Report of the Proceedings at the Examination of Charles G. Davis, Esq., on the Charge of Aiding and Abetting in the...
- In the matter of Treason the pig would appear / To have aided, but scarcely abetted: / While the charge of Insolvency fails, it is clear, If you grant the plea ‘never indebted.1874–1876 (date written), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “Fit the Fit the Sixth. The Barrister’s Dream.”, in The...
- The brief, a motion for summary judgment in a case stemming from Fox’s egregiously false claims of Dominion-abetted election fraud, offers a portrait of extravagant cynicism.2023 February 17, Michelle Goldberg, “What Fox News Says When You’re Not Listening”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Synonyms of abet
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of abet
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | abets |
| present participle | abetting |
| past participle | abetted |
| past | abetted |
| Noun | |
| plural | abets |
Origin of abet
From Middle English abetten, abette, from Old French abeter (“to entice”), from a- (“to”) + beter (“hound on, urge, to bait”), either from Middle Dutch bētan (“incite”) or from Old Norse beita (“to cause to bite, bait, incite”), from Proto-Germanic *baitijaną (“to cause to bite”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”). Cognate with Icelandic beita (“to set dogs on; to feed”). Alternate etymology traces the Middle English and Old French words through Old English *ābǣtan (“to hound on”), from ā- + bǣtan (“to bait”), from the same source (Proto-Germanic *baitijaną). See also bait, bet.
Words formed from abet
Words that rhyme with abet
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- upset
- vignette
- whet
- sett
- cornet
- let
- manchette
- roulette
- yet
- cadet
- cassette
- collarette
- forget
- pet
- banquette
- met
- mignonette
- musette
- octet
- reset
- unset
- beget
- brunette
- cuvette
- debt
- dinette
- dudette
- duet
- minuet
- navette
- planchette
- quartet
- regret
- silhouette
- vinaigrette
- aid and abet
- amourette
- barrette
- bavette
- bet
- brett
- briquette
- corvette
- couchette
- enucleate
- fossette
- grisette
- ket
Questions about abet
- What does abet mean?
- Abet means to incite; to assist or encourage by aid or countenance in crime.
- What is abet in Tamil?
- Abet in Tamil is உதவு, தூண்டு, உடந்தையாக இரு. See Abet meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use abet in a sentence?
- The Statute provides that whoever has been engaged in aiding, abetting, or assisting, directly or indirectly, is criminal.
- What part of speech is abet?
- Abet can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce abet?
- Abet is pronounced /əˈbɛt/.
- What is the past tense of abet?
- The past tense of abet is abetted.
Words near abet in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: abet (page history and authors); abet (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); abet (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Abet (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); abet (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); abet (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-ca-abet.ogg.
Cite this entry: “abet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/abet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.