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 ]

a. Capable of being administered; as, an administrable law. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F., p. pr. of administrer. See Administer. ] Executive; acting; managing affairs. -- n. One who administers. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. administratus, p. p. of administrare. ] To administer. [ R. ] Milman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. administracioun, L. administratio: cf. F. administration. ] 1. The act of administering; government of public affairs; the service rendered, or duties assumed, in conducting affairs; the conducting of any office or employment; direction; management. [ 1913 Webster ]

His financial administration was of a piece with his military administration. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The executive part of government; the persons collectively who are intrusted with the execution of laws and the superintendence of public affairs; the chief magistrate and his cabinet or council; or the council, or ministry, alone, as in Great Britain. [ 1913 Webster ]

A mild and popular administration. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The administration has been opposed in parliament. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of administering, or tendering something to another; dispensation; as, the administration of a medicine, of an oath, of justice, or of the sacrament. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) (a) The management and disposal, under legal authority, of the estate of an intestate, or of a testator having no competent executor. (b) The management of an estate of a deceased person by an executor, the strictly corresponding term execution not being in use. [ 1913 Webster ]

Administration with the will annexed, administration granted where the testator has appointed no executor, or where his appointment of an executor for any cause has failed, as by death, incompetency, refusal to act, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Conduct; management; direction; regulation; execution; dispensation; distribution. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. administrativus: cf. F. administratif. ] Pertaining to administration; administering; executive; as, an administrative body, ability, or energy. -- Ad*min"is*tra`tive*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. [ L. ] 1. One who administers affairs; one who directs, manages, executes, or dispenses, whether in civil, judicial, political, or ecclesiastical affairs; a manager. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A man who manages or settles the estate of an intestate, or of a testator when there is no competent executor; one to whom the right of administration has been committed by competent authority. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The position or office of an administrator. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL. ] A woman who administers; esp., one who administers the estate of an intestate, or to whom letters of administration have been granted; a female administrator. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. altus high + L. & E. stratus. ] (Meteor.) A cloud formation similar to cirro-stratus, but heavier and at a lower level; a stratus cloud at an intermediate altitude of 2 or 3 miles. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of, pertaining to, derived from, or possessed by, an ancestor or ancestors; as, an ancestral estate. “Ancestral trees.” Hemans. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Law) An administration subordinate to, and in aid of, the primary or principal administration of an estate. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

prop. n. An order of small aquatic crustaceans lacking a carapace, including the fairy shrimps and the brine shrimps.
Syn. -- order Anostraca. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. 'a`rqron joint + &unr_; stomach. ] (Zool.) A division of the Arachnida, having the abdomen annulated, including the scorpions, harvestmen, etc.; pedipalpi. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. 'a`rqron joint + &unr_; a shell. ] (Zool.) One of the larger divisions of Crustacea, so called because the thorax and abdomen are both segmented; Tetradecapoda. It includes the Amphipoda and Isopoda. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 an evergreen perennial (Aspidistra elatio) with large handsome basal leaves; grown primarily as a foliage houseplant.
Syn. -- cast-iron plant, bar-room plant [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. & n. See Astrakhan. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Pref. a- + straddle. ] In a straddling position; astride; bestriding; as, to sit astraddle a horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; starry. ] (Zool.) Pertaining to the genus Astræa or the family Astræidæ. -- n. A coral of the family Astræidæ; a star coral. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. astragalus, Gr. &unr_; the ankle bone, a molding in the capital of the Ionic column. ] 1. (Arch.) A convex molding of rounded surface, generally from half to three quarters of a circle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gun.) A round molding encircling a cannon near the mouth. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the astragalus. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Astragalus + -oid. ] (Anat.) Resembling the astragalus in form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; ankle bone, die + -mancy. ] Divination by means of small bones or dice. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. See Astragal. ] 1. (Anat.) The ankle bone, or hock bone; the bone of the tarsus which articulates with the tibia at the ankle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) A genus of papilionaceous plants, of the tribe Galegeæ, containing numerous species, two of which are called, in English, milk vetch and licorice vetch. Gum tragacanth is obtained from different oriental species, particularly the Astragalus gummifer and Astragalus verus. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Arch.) See Astragal, 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Astrakhan in Russia or its products; made of an Astrakhan skin. -- n. The skin of stillborn or young lambs of that region, the curled wool of which resembles fur. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. astralis, fr. astrum star, Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. astral. See Star. ] 1. Pertaining to, coming from, or resembling, the stars; starry; starlike. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shines only with an astral luster. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some astral forms I must invoke by prayer. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biol.) Of or pertaining to an aster; as, astral rays; astral sphere. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current; the astral plane. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

Astral lamp, an Argand lamp so constructed that no shadow is cast upon the table by the flattened ring-shaped reservoir in which the oil is contained. --
Astral spirits, spirits formerly supposed to live in the heavenly bodies or the aërial regions, and represented in the Middle Ages as fallen angels, spirits of the dead, or spirits originating in fire. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. & a. [ Pref. a- + strand. ] Stranded. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. & a. [ See Estray, Stray. ] Out of the right, either in a literal or in a figurative sense; wandering; as, to lead one astray. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye were as sheep going astray. 1 Pet. ii. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. australis, fr. auster: cf. F. austral. ] 1. Southern; lying or being in the south; as, austral land; austral ocean. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Biogeography) Designating, or pertaining to, a zone extending across North America between the Transition and Tropical zones, and including most of the United States and central Mexico except the mountainous parts. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Austral signs (Astron.), the last six signs of the zodiac, or those south of the equator. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Australasia; as, Australasian regions. -- n. A native or an inhabitant of Australasia. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From L. Terra Australis southern land. ] Of or pertaining to Australia. -- n. A native or an inhabitant of Australia. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Law) A system of balloting or voting in public elections, originally used in South Australia, in which there is such an arrangement for polling votes that secrecy is compulsorily maintained, and the ballot used is an official ballot printed and distributed by the government. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. [ See Austral. ] To tend toward the south pole, as a magnet. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They [ magnets ] do septentrionate at one extreme, and australize at another. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. any of several extinct humanlike small-brained bipedal primates of the genus Australopithecus; they existed from 1 to 4 million years ago. [ WordNet 1.5 ]