a. [ L. abstractus, p. p. of abstrahere to draw from, separate; ab, abs + trahere to draw. See Trace. ] 1. Withdraw; separate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The more abstract . . . we are from the body. Norris. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Considered apart from any application to a particular object; separated from matter; existing in the mind only; as, abstract truth, abstract numbers. Hence: ideal; abstruse; difficult. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Logic) (a) Expressing a particular property of an object viewed apart from the other properties which constitute it; -- opposed to concrete; as, honesty is an abstract word. J. S. Mill. (b) Resulting from the mental faculty of abstraction; general as opposed to particular; as, “reptile” is an abstract or general name. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

A concrete name is a name which stands for a thing; an abstract name which stands for an attribute of a thing. A practice has grown up in more modern times, which, if not introduced by Locke, has gained currency from his example, of applying the expression “abstract name” to all names which are the result of abstraction and generalization, and consequently to all general names, instead of confining it to the names of attributes. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Abstracted; absent in mind. “Abstract, as in a trance.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

An abstract idea (Metaph.), an idea separated from a complex object, or from other ideas which naturally accompany it; as the solidity of marble when contemplated apart from its color or figure. --
Abstract terms, those which express abstract ideas, as beauty, whiteness, roundness, without regarding any object in which they exist; or abstract terms are the names of orders, genera or species of things, in which there is a combination of similar qualities. --
Abstract numbers (Math.), numbers used without application to things, as 6, 8, 10; but when applied to any thing, as 6 feet, 10 men, they become concrete. --
Abstract mathematics or
Pure mathematics. See Mathematics. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Abstracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Abstracting. ] [ See Abstract, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To withdraw; to separate; to take away. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was incapable of forming any opinion or resolution abstracted from his own prejudices. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To draw off in respect to interest or attention; as, his was wholly abstracted by other objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

The young stranger had been abstracted and silent. Blackw. Mag. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To separate, as ideas, by the operation of the mind; to consider by itself; to contemplate separately, as a quality or attribute. Whately. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To epitomize; to abridge. Franklin. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To take secretly or dishonestly; to purloin; as, to abstract goods from a parcel, or money from a till. [ 1913 Webster ]

Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins from the harness. W. Black. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Chem.) To separate, as the more volatile or soluble parts of a substance, by distillation or other chemical processes. In this sense extract is now more generally used. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To perform the process of abstraction. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I own myself able to abstract in one sense. Berkeley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Abstract, a. ] 1. That which comprises or concentrates in itself the essential qualities of a larger thing or of several things. Specifically: A summary or an epitome, as of a treatise or book, or of a statement; a brief. [ 1913 Webster ]

An abstract of every treatise he had read. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Man, the abstract
Of all perfection, which the workmanship
Of Heaven hath modeled. Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A state of separation from other things; as, to consider a subject in the abstract, or apart from other associated things. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An abstract term. [ 1913 Webster ]

The concretes “father” and “son” have, or might have, the abstracts “paternity” and “filiety.” J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Med.) A powdered solid extract of a vegetable substance mixed with lactose in such proportion that one part of the abstract represents two parts of the original substance. [ 1913 Webster + AS ]

Abstract of title (Law), a document which provides a summary of the history of ownership of a parcel of real estate, including the conveyances and mortgages; also called brief of title. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

Syn. -- Abridgment; compendium; epitome; synopsis. See Abridgment. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Separated or disconnected; withdrawn; removed; apart. [ 1913 Webster ]

The evil abstracted stood from his own evil. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Separated from matter; abstract; ideal. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Abstract; abstruse; difficult. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Inattentive to surrounding objects; absent in mind. “An abstracted scholar.” Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an abstracted manner; separately; with absence of mind. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being abstracted; abstract character. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who abstracts, or makes an abstract. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. abstraction. See Abstract, a. ] 1. The act of abstracting, separating, or withdrawing, or the state of being withdrawn; withdrawal. [ 1913 Webster ]

A wrongful abstraction of wealth from certain members of the community. J. S. Mill. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Metaph.) The act process of leaving out of consideration one or more properties of a complex object so as to attend to others; analysis. Thus, when the mind considers the form of a tree by itself, or the color of the leaves as separate from their size or figure, the act is called abstraction. So, also, when it considers whiteness, softness, virtue, existence, as separate from any particular objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Abstraction is necessary to classification, by which things are arranged in genera and species. We separate in idea the qualities of certain objects, which are of the same kind, from others which are different, in each, and arrange the objects having the same properties in a class, or collected body. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abstraction is no positive act: it is simply the negative of attention. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An idea or notion of an abstract, or theoretical nature; as, to fight for mere abstractions. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A separation from worldly objects; a recluse life; as, a hermit's abstraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Absence or absorption of mind; inattention to present objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The taking surreptitiously for one's own use part of the property of another; purloining. [ Modern ] [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Chem.) A separation of volatile parts by the act of distillation. Nicholson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to abstraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An idealist. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Obtained from plants by distillation. [ Obs. ] Crabb. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. abstractif. ] Having the power of abstracting; of an abstracting nature. “The abstractive faculty.” I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a abstract manner; separately; in or by itself. Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstractive; abstractive property. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an abstract state or manner; separately; absolutely; by itself; as, matter abstractly considered. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being abstract. “The abstractness of the ideas.” Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Attracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Attracting. ] [ L. attractus, p. p. of attrahere; ad + trahere to draw. See Trace, v. t. ] 1. To draw to, or cause to tend to; esp. to cause to approach, adhere, or combine; or to cause to resist divulsion, separation, or decomposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

All bodies and all parts of bodies mutually attract themselves and one another. Derham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To draw by influence of a moral or emotional kind; to engage or fix, as the mind, attention, etc.; to invite or allure; as, to attract admirers. [ 1913 Webster ]

Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To draw; allure; invite; entice; influence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Attraction. [ Obs. ] Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or fact of being attractable. Sir W. Jones. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being attracted; subject to attraction. -- At*tract"a*ble*ness, n. [1913 Webster]

n. One who, or that which, attracts. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having power to attract. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That attracts. -- At*tract"ing*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. [ L. attractio: cf. F. attraction. ] 1. (Physics) An invisible power in a body by which it draws anything to itself; the power in nature acting mutually between bodies or ultimate particles, tending to draw them together, or to produce their cohesion or combination, and conversely resisting separation. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Attraction is exerted at both sensible and insensible distances, and is variously denominated according to its qualities or phenomena. Under attraction at sensible distances, there are, -- (1.)
Attraction of gravitation, which acts at all distances throughout the universe, with a force proportional directly to the product of the masses of the bodies and inversely to the square of their distances apart. (2.)
Magnetic,
diamagnetic, and
electrical attraction, each of which is limited in its sensible range and is polar in its action, a property dependent on the quality or condition of matter, and not on its quantity. Under attraction at insensible distances, there are, -- (1.)
Adhesive attraction, attraction between surfaces of sensible extent, or by the medium of an intervening substance. (2.)
Cohesive attraction, attraction between ultimate particles, whether like or unlike, and causing simply an aggregation or a union of those particles, as in the absorption of gases by charcoal, or of oxygen by spongy platinum, or the process of solidification or crystallization. The power in adhesive attraction is strictly the same as that of cohesion. (3.)
Capillary attraction, attraction causing a liquid to rise, in capillary tubes or interstices, above its level outside, as in very small glass tubes, or a sponge, or any porous substance, when one end is inserted in the liquid. It is a special case of cohesive attraction. (4.)
Chemical attraction, or
affinity, that peculiar force which causes elementary atoms, or groups of atoms, to unite to form molecules. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or property of attracting; the effect of the power or operation of attraction. Newton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The power or act of alluring, drawing to, inviting, or engaging; an attractive quality; as, the attraction of beauty or eloquence. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. That which attracts; an attractive object or feature. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Allurement; enticement; charm. [ 1913 Webster ]

. 1. (Zool.) (a) The central mass of the aster in mitotic cell division; centrosphere. (b) Less often, the mass of archoplasm left by the aster in the resting cell. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. (Bot.) A small body situated on or near the nucleus in the cells of some of the lower plants, consisting of two centrospheres containing centrosomes. It exercises an important function in mitosis. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ Cf. F. attractif. ] 1. Having the power or quality of attracting or drawing; as, the attractive force of bodies. Sir I. Newton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Attracting or drawing by moral influence or pleasurable emotion; alluring; inviting; pleasing. “Attractive graces.” Milton. “Attractive eyes.” Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Flowers of a livid yellow, or fleshy color, are most attractive to flies. Lubbock. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- At*tract"ive*ly, adv. -- At*tract"ive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That which attracts or draws; an attraction; an allurement. [ 1913 Webster ]

Speaks nothing but attractives and invitation. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or degree of attractive power. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, attracts. Sir T. Browne [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Contracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Contracting. ] [ L. contractus, p. p. of contrahere to contract; con- + trahere to draw: cf. F. contracter. See Trace, and cf. Contract, n. ] 1. To draw together or nearer; to reduce to a less compass; to shorten, narrow, or lessen; as, to contract one's sphere of action. [ 1913 Webster ]

In all things desuetude doth contract and narrow our faculties. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To draw together so as to wrinkle; to knit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou didst contract and purse thy brow. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To bring on; to incur; to acquire; as, to contract a habit; to contract a debt; to contract a disease. [ 1913 Webster ]

Each from each contract new strength and light. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such behavior we contract by having much conversed with persons of high station. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To enter into, with mutual obligations; to make a bargain or covenant for. [ 1913 Webster ]

We have contracted an inviolable amity, peace, and lague with the aforesaid queen. Hakluyt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Many persons . . . had contracted marriage within the degrees of consanguinity . . . prohibited by law. Strype. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To betroth; to affiance. [ 1913 Webster ]

The truth is, she and I, long since contracted,
Are now so sure, that nothing can dissolve us. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Gram.) To shorten by omitting a letter or letters or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one.

Syn. -- To shorten; abridge; epitomize; narrow; lessen; condense; reduce; confine; incur; assume. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To be drawn together so as to be diminished in size or extent; to shrink; to be reduced in compass or in duration; as, iron contracts in cooling; a rope contracts when wet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Years contracting to a moment. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make an agreement; to covenant; to agree; to bargain; as, to contract for carrying the mail. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Contracted; as, a contract verb. Goodwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. contractus, p. p. ] Contracted; affianced; betrothed. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. contractus, fr. contrahere: cf. F. contrat, formerly also contract. ] 1. (Law) The agreement of two or more persons, upon a sufficient consideration or cause, to do, or to abstain from doing, some act; an agreement in which a party undertakes to do, or not to do, a particular thing; a formal bargain; a compact; an interchange of legal rights. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A formal writing which contains the agreement of parties, with the terms and conditions, and which serves as a proof of the obligation. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of formally betrothing a man and woman. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is the the night of the contract. Longwellow.

Syn. -- Covenant; agreement; compact; stipulation; bargain; arrangement; obligation. See Covenant. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. capable of being transmitted by infection; same as communicable, 1; -- of disease.
Syn. -- catching, communicable, contagious, transmissible, transmittable. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. 1. Drawn together; shrunken; wrinkled; narrow; as, a contracted brow; a contracted noun. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Narrow; illiberal; selfish; as, a contracted mind; contracted views. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Bargained for; betrothed; as, a contracted peace. [ 1913 Webster ]

Inquire me out contracted bachelors. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being contracted; narrowness; meanness; selfishness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Capability of being contracted; quality of being contractible; as, the contractibility and dilatability of air. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of contraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Small air bladders distable and contractible. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Contractibility. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. contractile. ] tending to contract; having the power or property of contracting, or of shrinking into shorter or smaller dimensions; as, the contractile tissues. [ 1913 Webster ]

The heart's contractile force. H. Brooke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Each cilium seems to be composed of contractile substance. Hixley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Contractile vacuole (Zool.), a pulsating cavity in the interior of a protozoan, supposed to be excretory in function. There may be one, two, or more. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality or property by which bodies shrink or contract. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Physiol.) The power possessed by the fibers of living muscle of contracting or shortening. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ When subject to the will, as in the muscles of locomotion, such power is called voluntary contractility; when not controlled by the will, as in the muscles of the heart, it is involuntary contractility. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the act or process of acquiring an infectious disease; contraction; as, the contracting of a serious illness can be financially catastrophic.
Syn. -- catching. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. contractio: cf. F. contraction. ] 1. The act or process of contracting, shortening, or shrinking; the state of being contracted; as, contraction of the heart, of the pupil of the eye, or of a tendon; the contraction produced by cold. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Math.) The process of shortening an operation. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of incurring or becoming subject to, as liabilities, obligation, debts, etc.; the process of becoming subject to; as, the contraction of a disease. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Something contracted or abbreviated, as a word or phrase; -- as, plenipo for plenipotentiary; crim. con. for criminal conversation, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Gram.) The shortening of a word, or of two words, by the omission of a letter or letters, or by reducing two or more vowels or syllables to one; as, ne'er for never; can't for can not; don't for do not; it's for it is. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A marriage contract. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tending to contract; having the property or power or power of contracting. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] One who contracts; one of the parties to a bargain; one who covenants to do anything for another; specifically, one who contracts to perform work on a rather large scale, at a certain price or rate, as in building houses or making a railroad. [ 1913 Webster ]

. 1. The sweating system. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. The system of employing convicts by selling their labor (to be performed inside the prison) at a fixed price per day to contractors who are allowed to have agents in the prison to superintend the work. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Babylonian & Assyrian Antiq.) A clay tablet on which was inscribed a contract, for safe keeping. Such tablets were inclosed in an outer case (often called the envelope), on which was inscribed a duplicate of the inscription on the inclosed tablet. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ L. contractura a drawing together. ] (Med.) A state of permanent rigidity or contraction of the muscles, generally of the flexor muscles. [ 1913 Webster ]