Definitions

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

  • transitive verb To carry off by force; kidnap.
  • transitive verb Physiology To draw away from the midline of the body or from an adjacent part or limb.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To lead away or carry off surreptitiously or by force; kidnap.
  • In physiology, to move or draw away (a limb) from the axis of the body, or (a digit) from the axis of the limb: opposed to adduct.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To take away surreptitiously by force; to carry away (a human being) wrongfully and usually by violence; to kidnap.
  • transitive verb To draw away, as a limb or other part, from its ordinary position.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom
  • verb pull away from the body

Etymologies

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

[Latin abdūcere, abduct- : ab-, away; see ab– + dūcere, to lead; see deuk- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

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