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Abraham according to the Old Testament, the first of the postdiluvian patriarchs, father of Isaac, and ancestor of the Hebrews.
Abraham Lincoln the 16th President of the United States (1861-1865), who was Commander-in-Chief of the Union troops during the American Civil War and who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, thus bringing an end to slavery in the United States (b.1809--d.1865).
abranchiate lacking gills.
abrasion a spot or patch that has been scraped, as on the skin. [2 definitions]
abrasive a material or substance used to grind or polish surfaces. [3 definitions]
abreast side by side. [4 definitions]
abridge to shorten without removing basic contents; condense. [2 definitions]
abridged having been shortened without removing the most essential contents; condensed.
abridgment an act, process, or instance of abridging. [3 definitions]
abroad in or to a country that is not one's own. [4 definitions]
abrogate to abolish, repeal, or nullify by authority. [2 definitions]
abrupt sudden and unexpected. [3 definitions]
abs- from; away; off.
Abscam in the United States, an FBI investigation in 1978-80, as a result of which several members of Congress were indicted for taking bribes from FBI agents posing as Arab businessmen.
abscess a collection of pus in body tissue, usu. surrounded by an inflamed area. [2 definitions]
abscissa the distance of a point from the vertical axis of a graph as measured parallel to the horizontal axis. (Cf. ordinate.)
abscond to leave suddenly and secretly, esp. to avoid observation or capture.
absence the state or condition of being away or not present. [3 definitions]
absent not in the expected or required place. [4 definitions]
absentee a person who is absent, esp. from duty, work, or property. [2 definitions]
absentee ballot a ballot to be marked and delivered to an election official before election day because the voter will be unable to be at the polls on that day.