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No you are conflating two different meanings of "abuse". The definition we should be talking about is: [verb] treat (a person or an animal) with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly.

I believe that is what the parent comment is talking about.

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There's a defensible argument that it is, in fact, cruel. It's just been normalized, which is a standard component of effective abuse. If you're in an abusive relationship (familial, romantic, employment, or whatever), it's pretty common to think this is how all such relationships work.

You're correct, that definition is more appropriate.

Companies abuse (misuse) their power over consumers. Consumers are abused by companies through marketing.

I wholly agree with my sibling commenter that it is cruel for companies to market to us with the intent of separating us from our money.

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