abduction
noun
Simple meaning
The criminal act of capturing and carrying away by force a family member.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
abduhkshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
æbˈdʌkʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
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
Leading away; a carrying away.
physiology
Moving of a body part away from the central axis of the body
law
The wrongful, and usually forcible, carrying off of a human being.
anatomy
The act of abducing or abducting; a drawing apart; the movement which separates a limb or other part from the axis, or middle line, of the body.
Word at a Glance
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
More ways to use abduction
- “The police are investigating her brother's abduction after two men forced him into a van outside his home.”
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Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- rapeverb
- kidnappingnoun
- ransomnoun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.