| aborigine |
an original or first inhabitant of an area, esp. a member of a tribe native to Australia. [1/2 definitions] |
| abortion |
an aborted fetus. [1/4 definitions] |
| abortive |
producing or intended to produce an abortion. [1/3 definitions] |
| about-face |
an abrupt, complete change in opinion, beliefs, actions, or the like; switch; reversal. [1/3 definitions] |
| above |
in an earlier place in a book or other piece of writing. [1/9 definitions] |
| abovementioned |
introduced or discussed in an earlier part of a written text. [1/2 definitions] |
| 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). |
| abridgment |
an act, process, or instance of abridging. [1/3 definitions] |
| 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] |
| absence |
an instance or period of time of being away. [1/3 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. |
| absolute monarchy |
an authoritarian governing system in which a hereditary ruler holds complete power until death. |
| abstention |
the act or practice, or an instance, of abstaining. [1/2 definitions] |
| abstract |
depicting reality not as it appears to the senses of most people but in the way that an individual interprets it or wishes to suggest it; nonrepresentational. [2/13 definitions] |
| abstract expressionism |
(sometimes cap.) a school of painting that arose after World War II and that was marked by expressive but nonrepresentational images formed by an apparently random and often unconventional application of paint. |
| abstraction |
an abstract or general idea, concept, or term. [2/4 definitions] |
| abundance |
an amount that is more than enough; a very plentiful quantity. [1/2 definitions] |
| abuse |
to use in an improper or incorrect manner; misuse. [2/7 definitions] |
| abutment |
an architectural component that supports an arch, vault, or the like, as of a bridge. [1/2 definitions] |
| abyss |
anything resembling an abyss in its extent, unmeasurableness, or profundity. [1/2 definitions] |