abduct, v.
(æbˈdʌkt)
[f. L. abduct-um, pa. pple. of abdūc-ere; see abduce. Cf. conduct, induct.]
Not in Craig 1847; the earlier word was abduce.
1. To lead or take away improperly, whether by force or fraud; to carry off, to kidnap. Applied especially to the illegal carrying off of a woman or child.
| 1834 Landor Imag. Conv., Exam. of Shaksp. (Sir Thos. Lucy loq.) That a goose on the common..may be seized, bagged, and abducted, with far less offence to the laws. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. iv. 227 His Majesty has been abducted, or spirited away, ‘enlevé,’ by some person or persons unknown. 1848 Leigh Hunt Jar of Honey v. 63 Two foxes, one of whom is meditating to abduct his breakfast. 1861 Sat. Rev. No. 286. 400 The dairymaid..is courted by her master's son, and afterwards forcibly abducted by the same villain. 1877 Stephen Crim. Law xxx. 179 A and B, two girls under 16, run away from home together. Neither abducts the other. |
2. To draw away (any member of the body) from its natural or ordinary position.
| 1836 Todd Cycl. An. & Ph. I. 297/1 The second [muscle] goes to the base of the first toe, and abducts it. 1846 J. Miller Pract. of Surg. xl. 639 Dislocation [of the Hip] downwards..The thigh is much abducted, and cannot be brought near its fellow. |
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▸ trans. As a reported paranormal phenomenon: to carry off (a person) by unearthly means (allegedly the clandestine activity of extraterrestrial beings). Freq. in pass.
| 1966 J. G. Fuller Interrupted Journey xii. 280 Doctor: Were you abducted? Barney: Yes. I don't want to believe I was abducted. 1989 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 102 167 Whether the experience is objectively real, subjectively real, or the result of transmitted ideas, many claimants react with profound emotion to the conviction that they were abducted by unearthly beings. 1998 M. Warner No Go Bogeyman (2000) Epilogue 383 Aliens not only abduct their quarry, as did the fairies, but they often perform surgical operations, obstetrical in character. |