ill-treat

See also: illtreat

English[edit]

From ill +‎ treat.

ill-treat (third-person singular simple present ill-treats, present participle ill-treating, simple past and past participle ill-treated)

To treat someone or something badly or unkindly; to abuse or mistreat.
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 297:
  He would never speak a word, only eat and cry, and she hadn't the heart to strike it or illtreat the youngster either; but somebody taught her a charm to make him speak, and then she found out what kind of a brat he really was.

to treat someone badly