ABDUCTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does abduction mean? 

• ABDUCTION (noun)
  The noun ABDUCTION has 2 senses:

1. the criminal act of capturing and carrying away by force a family member; if a man's wife is abducted it is a crime against the family relationship and against the wife

2. (physiology) moving of a body part away from the central axis of the body

  Familiarity information: ABDUCTION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ABDUCTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The criminal act of capturing and carrying away by force a family member; if a man's wife is abducted it is a crime against the family relationship and against the wife

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("abduction" is a kind of...):

capture; seizure (the act of taking of a person by force)

Derivation:

abduct (take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(physiology) moving of a body part away from the central axis of the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("abduction" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Domain category:

physiology (the branch of the biological sciences dealing with the functioning of organisms)

Derivation:

abduct (pull away from the body)

 Context examples 

A muscle originating at the lateral epicondyle of the humerus and inserted at the third metacarpal bone that controls the radial extension and abduction of the wrist.

(Extensor Carpi Radialis Brevis, NCI Thesaurus)

A muscle originating at the humeral and ulnar heads and inserted at the base of the fifth metacarpal bone that controls the extension and abduction of the wrist toward the ulna.

(Extensor Carpi Ulnaris, NCI Thesaurus)

These muscles are responsible for hip abduction and extension as well as movement of the thigh.

(Gluteal Muscle, NCI Thesaurus)

It leads to limited abduction and adduction of the affected eye.

(Duane Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

The deltoid muscle is innervated by the brachial plexus arising from the fifth and sixth cervical nerves and controls abduction, extension, flexion, and rotation of the arm.

(Deltoid, NCI Thesaurus)

Williamson and Woodley were both tried for abduction and assault, the former getting seven years the latter ten.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Have you heard nothing of the abduction of the only son of the Duke of Holdernesse?”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It’s abduction, Watson—abduction!

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)