| 11th Amendment |
an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees a level of sovereign immunity to states by forbidding federal courts from ruling on cases brought against a state by a citizen of another state. |
| a-2 |
away; from; off. [1/3 definitions] |
| ab- |
from; away; off. |
| abaft |
in nautical terminology, toward the stern from; behind. [1/2 definitions] |
| abandon |
to give up (a structure or place) by withdrawing from it. [2/6 definitions] |
| abandon ship |
to extricate oneself from a situation where danger or failure seems imminent, often at the expense of loyalty to a group or cause. [1/2 definitions] |
| abduct |
to draw or cause to move away from the main axis of the body. (Cf. adduct.) [1/2 definitions] |
| abduction |
of a muscle, the act or process of drawing away from the main axis of the body. [1/2 definitions] |
| Abdur Rahman Khan |
Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to 1901 (b.1844?--d.1901). |
| abeam |
at right angles to a line passing from the front to the back of a ship. |
| aberrant |
straying from what is normal or usual; atypical; anomalous. [2 definitions] |
| aberration |
a deviation from what is considered normal or right; irregularity. [1/3 definitions] |
| abiogenesis |
the production of living organisms from nonliving matter; spontaneous generation. |
| abnormal |
different from the normal or usual; not typical. (Cf. irregular.) |
| abnormal psychology |
the branch of psychology that is concerned with patterns of behavior, thought, and feeling that deviate greatly from average patterns. |
| ab ovo |
(Latin) from the egg; from the beginning. |
| 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. |
| abscissa |
the distance of a point from the vertical axis of a graph as measured parallel to the horizontal axis. (Cf. ordinate.) |
| absentee |
a person who is absent, esp. from duty, work, or property. [1/2 definitions] |
| absenteeism |
habitual or repeated absence from a place where regular attendance is required, such as work or school. |