Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A candidate for a doctorate who has completed all the requirements for the degree, such as courses and examinations, with the exception of the dissertation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A common element in Arabic names of persons, meaning servant: as, Abdallah, servant of God; Abd-el-Kader, servant of the Mighty One; Abd-ul-Latif (commonly written Abdullatif or Abdallatif), servant of the Gracious One.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • initialism academics All but dissertation: A description of the status of a doctoral student who has completed all PhD degree requirements except the doctoral dissertation.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[a(ll) b(ut) d(issertation).]

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Examples

  • "The Bullard view is what I call the ABD policy: Anything But Deflation," said Stephen Wood, the New York-based chief market strategist for Russell Investments, which manages $149 billion.

    BusinessWeek.com -- Top News 2011

  • One of the unfortunate side-effects of being ABD is that I no longer feel deserving of treating myself to time off during that week when all of the undergraduates disappear.

    Archive 2006-03-01 ScienceWoman 2006

  • The thing that annoys me the most about being ABD is the lack of a concrete schedule.

    Archive 2005-07-01 2005

  • I hate to drag him away from his current job -- but yet I hate to stay stuck in ABD land much longer, or take a year off after earning the doctorate.

    On Uncertainty 2005

  • The thing that annoys me the most about being ABD is the lack of a concrete schedule.

    Wednesday's Plan of Attack for Thursday 2005

  • I hate to drag him away from his current job -- but yet I hate to stay stuck in ABD land much longer, or take a year off after earning the doctorate.

    Archive 2005-08-01 2005

  • Introduced at an appallingly early hour this morning by Bardiac, in response to the lack of early authors in a female authors meme started by Mon at My so-called ABD life.

    The Really Dead Women Writers Meme Heo 2006

  • Introduced at an appallingly early hour this morning by Bardiac, in response to the lack of early authors in a female authors meme started by Mon at My so-called ABD life.

    Archive 2006-04-01 Heo 2006

  • Today in Saudi Arabia, a land with many 100,000s of SLAVES (yes, SLAVES, Skippy!) of ALL races, a Black African is still referred to as an "ABD", or SLAVE (as in ABDULLAH, or "Slave of Allah")!

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2010

  • Online kullanıcı sayısının dünya çapında hızla artmasına karşın, 'Süper Güç' ABD'nin, internet kullanımındaki payının azalması dikkatleri çekiyor.

    Turk.internet.com 2009

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