Etymology

Noun

1. The act of abducing or abducting; a drawing apart; a carrying away. — Roget
2. The movement which separates a limb or other part from the axis, or middle line, of the body.
3. The wrongful, and usually the forcible, carrying off of a human being.
   • the abduction of a child
   • the abduction of an heiress
4. A syllogism or form of argument in which the major is evident, but the minor is only probable.
   • 2005, Ronnie Cann, Ruth Kempson, Lutz Marten, The Dynamics of Language, an Introduction, p. 256

     The significance of such a step is that it is not morphologically triggered: it is a step of abduction, and what is required here is a meta-level process of reasoning.

5. The process of inference to the best explanation; abductive reasoning.
6. The process used in getting students to see disciplinary regularity through the use of metaphor.
7. Determining the best or most plausible of many possible explanations for a set of facts.

Gregg

• (Version: Centennial, Series 90, DJS, Simplified, Anniversary, Pre-Anniversary): a - b - d - u - k - sh

Etymology

Noun

1. Abductive movement; abduction.
2. Abductive reasoning; abduction.
3. An alien abduction.