abduction

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The official said members of the U. S.-led coalition believe the abduction was the work of a group known as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, which is one of two major militias operating in Iraq that are believed to be backed by Iran.

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Definitions (7)

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  1. The act of abducing or abducting. In law, the act of illegally leading away or carrying off a person; more especially, the taking or carrying away of a wife, a child, a ward, or a voter by fraud, persuasion, or open violence. In physiology, the action of the muscles in drawing a limb or other part of the body away from the axis of the body or of the limb, as when the arm is lifted from the side, or the thumb is bent away from the axis of the arm or the middle line of the hand. In surgery, the receding from each other of the extremities of a fractured bone.
  2. [from NL. abductio, a word used by Giulio Pacio (1550–1635), in translating ἀπαγωγή, in the 25th chapter of the second book of Aristotle's Prior Analytics, in place of deductio and reductio, previously employed.] In logic, a syllogism of which the major premise is evident or known, while the minor, though not evident, is as credible as or more credible than the conclusion. The term is hardly used except in translations from the passage referred to. After adverting to another variety of ratiocinative procedure, which he calls Apagoge or Abduction (where the minor is hardly more evident than the conclusion, and might sometimes conveniently become a conclusion first to be proved), Aristotle goes on to treat of objection generally. Grote, Aristotle, vi.
  3. In the logical system of C. S. Peirce, reasoning from consequent to antecedent; the acceptance on probation (or more absolutely) of a hypothesis to explain observed facts; the deriving of a suggestion from observation.
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Examples (50)

  • Indeed, we feared that his abduction was a plot to prevent his destiny from being achieved But if Gwenny gets to rule the goblins, wouldn't that change things? —  Volk
  • Before they can discern any reason for the abduction, a second flash the next night returns the townspeople, but in drastically altered form. —  Asimov'sSF,Jan2004
  • In fact, if Hopkins is to be believed, another witness to the Linda abduction was actually the first. —  Omni: April 1994
  • In order to advance comprehensive measures concerning the abduction issue, I have decided to establish the "Headquarters on the Abduction Issue" chaired by myself, and to assign a secretariat solely dedicated to this Headquarters. —  News On Japan
  • The HAI will further enhance efforts to raise the awareness of the Japanese people regarding the abduction issue. —  News On Japan
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