ill-treat, v.
(ˌɪlˈtriːt)
[f. ill adv. + treat v.; after the phrases ill treated, ill treatment; cf. ill-use.]
trans. To treat badly; to deal harshly, unkindly, or cruelly with; to ill-use, maltreat.
| [a 1704 Locke (J.), Where men find themselves ill treated.] 1794 Bloomfield Amer. Law Rep. 18 The Negro should not be ill-treated. 1818 Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 398 When we see a man ill-treating any dumb creature. 1878 J. P. Hopps Jesus xii. 43 They began to mock him and to ill-treat him. |
Hence ˌill-ˈtreater, one who ill-treats.
| 1895 W. Platt Women 94 The illtreaters of women. |