Definition of "child abuse" []

• The physical or emotional or sexual mistreatment of children (noun)

WordNet. Princeton University. 2010.

• "She decided to leave and take a job with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services DCFS, where she investigated child abuse and neglect, hardly a more uplifting career choice."
• "Here again may be an example of gene-environment interaction: the genetic susceptibility conferred by MAOA becomes apparent only when the environmental experience of child abuse is added to the picture."
• "It is child abuse of the worst order, waged by awful perverts called gym teachers—mine was named Ms. MacNeeley."