- an abstract work of art
- Kandinsky’s first pure abstracts are marked by their wild colour.
- a short piece of writing containing the main ideas in a document synonym summary
- Abstracts of about 300 words should be submitted to the conference committee who will decide which papers to accept.
- This information is supplementary to the abstract of accounts.
Word OriginMiddle English: from Latin abstractus, literally ‘drawn away’, past participle of abstrahere, from ab- ‘from’ + trahere ‘draw off’.
Idioms
See abstract in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee abstract in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishin the abstract
- in a general way, without referring to a particular real person, thing or situation
- Legal questions rarely exist in the abstract; they are based on real cases.
- I’m just talking in the abstract now.
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abstract