Abduction

Also from Answers.com... Cancer Treatments Learn about current and promising cancer treatments.

(ab′dək·shən)

(physiology) Movement of an extremity or other body part away from the axis of the body.

---

(abduk′shən)
n

The process of abducting; opposite of adduction.

Movement of a body segment (e.g. arm or leg) away from the midline of the body. The term also refers to the movement of fingers or toes when they are spread apart. Compare adduction.

Broadly, the criminal or tortious act of "taking and carrying away by force." This taking may be by means of fraud, persuasion, or open violence. Its object may be a child, ward, wife, etc., but the offense is against the family relationship and not the person taken. At common law, a wife could not maintain a civil action for abduction of her husband. In its most exclusive sense abduction is restricted to the taking of females for the purpose of marriage, concubinage, or prostitution. 60 A. 601, 603. In private or civil [as opposed to criminal] law, abduction is the act of taking away a man's wife by violence or by persuasion. 54 P. 847. Compare kidnapping.

IN BRIEF: Carrying away of a person against his will, or illegally.

Fear of abduction made the millionaire hire body guards for her daughter.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)