carnal abuse
- noun
- /ˈkɑrnəl əˈbjus/
- Offensive
:
abuso sexual de menores
- She reported the incident of carnal abuse to the authorities for investigation.
Examples
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Brown was found guilty of buggery, carnal abuse, sexual grooming, and sexual touching.
Blog text (8) -
The court sentenced him to five years in prison for carnal abuse of a minor.
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The charity works to raise awareness and prevent instances of carnal abuse against children.
Synonyms
91
5.7
Force or trick someone into sex they do not want
42
9.1
Unwanted sexual touching or actions toward another person, often a child
25
8.5
Sex with a person younger than the age the law allows, even if both agree
2
8.3
Sex between people, usually meaning one person entering another, used in legal texts
Sex that the law says is illegal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'carnal' (relating to sexual appetites) combined with 'abuse' (harmful treatment) composes straightforwardly to mean sexual mistreatment, so a learner who knows both words would likely infer 'sexual abuse'. However, 'carnal abuse' is a formal/legal label whose specific scope (often denoting statutory offences involving minors or particular legal definitions) is not fully predictable from the parts, making the phrase only partially transparent.
Etymology
Carnal abuse comes from the old word carnal, meaning 'of the body', and abuse, meaning 'harm' or 'wrong treatment'. So carnal abuse means harmful sexual acts, for example illegal sexual activity by an adult with a child.