abortive

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++a·bor·tive /əˈbɔːtɪv $ əˈbɔːr-/ adjective SUCCESSFULan abortive action is not successful 〔行动〕失败的，夭折的 an abortive military coup 一场未遂的军事政变abortive attempt/effort an abortive attempt to reform local government 改革地方政府的失败尝试

Examples from the Corpus

abortive• My conversation with the Ministry seemed to take ages, and, as I had already anticipated, it proved abortive.• The attack against Beaumont-Hamel proved abortive, and a thrust made by the Third Army against Gommecourt failed utterly.• He then tried out these elements on an abortive design for Halifax Town Hall, before the competition officially had started.• Brunel had also commissioned him to prepare an abortive scheme for him for a house at Watcombe in 1851.• Any abortive treatment must have a very rapid action because of the pain crescendo characteristic of these headaches.abortive ... coup• The charges against Enrile arose from the abortive coup attempt of December 1989, the most serious military insurrection Aquino to date.• Rumblings from recent abortive coup plots coupled with an erosion of army discipline have reportedly weakened Guei's grip on the military.