Search Result for "abstract": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance;
- Example: "he loved her only in the abstract--not in person"
[syn: abstraction, abstract]

2. a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory;
[syn: outline, synopsis, abstract, precis]


VERB (4)

1. consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically;

2. make off with belongings of others;
[syn: pilfer, cabbage, purloin, pinch, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, sneak, filch, nobble, lift]

3. consider apart from a particular case or instance;
- Example: "Let's abstract away from this particular example"

4. give an abstract (of);


ADJECTIVE (3)

1. existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment;
- Example: "abstract words like `truth' and `justice'"

2. not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature;
- Example: "a large abstract painting"
[syn: abstract, abstractionist, nonfigurative, nonobjective]

3. dealing with a subject in the abstract without practical purpose or intention;
- Example: "abstract reasoning"
- Example: "abstract science"


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abstract \Ab"stract`\ (#; 277), 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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abstract \Ab*stract"\, v. t. To perform the process of abstraction. [R.] [1913 Webster] I own myself able to abstract in one sense. --Berkeley. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abstract \Ab*stract"\, 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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Abstract \Ab"stract`\, 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]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

abstract adj 1: existing only in the mind; separated from embodiment; "abstract words like `truth' and `justice'" [ant: concrete] 2: not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature; "a large abstract painting" [syn: abstract, abstractionist, nonfigurative, nonobjective] 3: dealing with a subject in the abstract without practical purpose or intention; "abstract reasoning"; "abstract science" n 1: a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance; "he loved her only in the abstract--not in person" [syn: abstraction, abstract] 2: a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory [syn: outline, synopsis, abstract, precis] v 1: consider a concept without thinking of a specific example; consider abstractly or theoretically 2: make off with belongings of others [syn: pilfer, cabbage, purloin, pinch, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, sneak, filch, nobble, lift] 3: consider apart from a particular case or instance; "Let's abstract away from this particular example" 4: give an abstract (of)
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

279 Moby Thesaurus words for "abstract": abate, abbreviate, abbreviation, abbreviature, abrade, abrege, abridge, abridgment, abstract idea, abstraction, abstruse, academic, altarpiece, and, annex, apocope, appropriate, arcane, armchair, bag, bate, bland, block print, bob, boil down, boost, borrow, breviary, brief, broad, capsule, capsulize, cast off, cast out, chuck, clear, clear away, clear out, clear the decks, clip, collage, collective, color print, colorless, compend, compress, compression, conceptual, condensation, condense, condensed version, conjectural, conspectus, contract, cop, copy, crib, crop, curtail, curtailment, cut, cut back, cut down, cut off short, cut out, cut short, cyclorama, daub, decrease, deduct, deep, defraud, deport, depreciate, derogate, detached, detract, digest, diminish, diptych, disconnect, disengage, disinterested, disparage, dispassionate, dispose of, dissociate, divide, dock, draft, drain, eat away, eject, elide, eliminate, elision, ellipsis, embezzle, engraving, epitome, epitomize, eradicate, erode, esoteric, essence, exile, expatriate, expel, extort, extract, featureless, filch, file away, foreshorten, foreshortening, fresco, general, generalized, generic, get quit of, get rid of, get shut of, head, hidden, hook, hypothetic, hypothetical, icon, ideal, ideational, illumination, illustration, image, impair, impersonal, impractical, indefinite, indeterminate, intellectual, leach, lessen, lift, likeness, liquidate, make off with, metaphysical, miniature, montage, moot, mosaic, mow, mural, nebulous, neutral, nip, nonspecific, notional, occult, outlaw, outline, overview, palm, pandect, panorama, part, photograph, pick out, picture, pilfer, pinch, poach, poker-faced, poll, pollard, postulatory, precis, print, profound, prune, purge, purify, purloin, reap, recap, recapitulate, recapitulation, recondite, reduce, reduction, refine, remove, representation, reproduction, resume, retrench, retrenchment, review, root out, root up, rub away, rubric, run away with, rustle, scrounge, secret, separate, shave, shear, shoplift, shorten, shortened version, shortening, skeleton, sketch, snare, snatch, snitch, snub, speculative, stained glass window, steal, stencil, still life, strike off, strike out, stunt, subduct, subtract, sum up, summarize, summary, summation, survey, swindle, swipe, syllabus, symbolic, syncope, synopsis, synopsize, tableau, take, take away, take from, take in, tapestry, telescope, telescoping, theoretical, thieve, thin, thin out, throw over, throw overboard, thumbnail sketch, topical outline, transcendent, transcendental, trim, triptych, truncate, truncation, unapplied, uncharacterized, uncouple, undemonstrable, undifferentiated, unpractical, unspecified, utopian, vague, visionary, walk off with, wall painting, wear away, weed, weed out, wide, withdraw
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

abstract A description of a concept that leaves out some information or details in order to simplify it in some useful way. Abstraction is a powerful technique that is applied in many areas of computing and elsewhere. For example: abstract class, data abstraction, abstract interpretation, abstract syntax, Hardware Abstraction Layer. (2009-12-09)