1. To extract or separate something from a fuller whole for consideration.
2. Conceptual or general rather than a particular concrete instance.
3. A concise summary of a larger work, especially a scholarly paper.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- abstract a principle
- abstract information from
On the page
The analysis abstracted the principle from several different cases.
The summary abstracted the relevant information from the larger record.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- abstract
- Past tense
- abstracted
- Past participle
- abstracted
- Present participle
- abstracting
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- abstract
- Present continuous
- am/is/are abstracting
- Present perfect
- have/has abstracted
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been abstracting
- Past
- abstracted
- Past continuous
- was/were abstracting
- Past perfect
- had abstracted
- Past perfect continuous
- had been abstracting
- Future
- will abstract
- Future continuous
- will be abstracting
- Future perfect
- will have abstracted
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been abstracting
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: abstract; abstracts; abstracted; abstracted; abstracting; adjective more abstract and most abstract where meaningful; noun singular abstract, plural abstracts. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: institutional and conceptual change, philosophical orientation, qualification of recurrence and degree. Disciplines: academic writing, philosophy, cross-disciplinary analysis. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: abstracts.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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