dictionary

1: a substance that abrades or wears down [syn: {abrasive}, {abradant}]

1: the roughness of a substance that causes abrasions [syn: {harshness}, {scratchiness}] 2: the quality of being sharply disagreeable

1: discharge bad feelings or tension through verbalization

1: (psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions [syn: {catharsis}, {katharsis}]

1: alongside each other, facing on the same direction

1: being up to particular standard or level especially in being up to date in knowledge; "kept abreast of the latest developments"; "constant revision keeps the book au courant"; "always au fait on th...

1: reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The manuscript must be shortened" [syn: {foreshorten}, {abbreviate}, {shorten}, {cut}, {contract}, {reduce}] [ant: {elaborate}]

1: (used of texts) shortened by condensing or rewriting; "an abridged version" [ant: {unabridged}]

1: a shortened version of a written work [syn: {condensation}, {abridgment}, {capsule}]

1: one who shortens or abridges or condenses a written work [syn: {abbreviator}]

1: a shortened version of a written work [syn: {condensation}, {abridgement}, {capsule}]

1: of a cask or barrel; "the cask was set abroach" [syn: {broached}]

1: in a foreign country; "markets abroad"; "overseas markets" [syn: {overseas}] adv 1: to or in a foreign country; "they had never travelled abroad" 2: far away from home or one's usual surroundings; ...

1: abrocomes [syn: {genus Abrocoma}]

1: ratlike rodent with soft fur and large ears of the Andes [syn: {chinchilla rat}, {rat chinchilla}]

1: revoke formally

1: the act of abrogating; an official or legal cancellation [syn: {repeal}, {annulment}]

1: an authority or official empowered to abolish or annul or repeal

1: genus of western North American herbs having showy flowers [syn: {genus Abronia}]

1: plant having heads of fragrant white trumpet-shaped flowers; grows in sandy arid regions [syn: {snowball}, {sweet sand verbena}]

1: taller than Abronia elliptica and having night-blooming flowers [syn: {sweet sand verbena}]

1: plant having hemispherical heads of yellow trumpet-shaped flowers; found in coastal dunes from California to British Columbia [syn: {yellow sand verbena}]

1: plant having hemispherical heads of wine-red flowers; found in coastal dunes from California to Mexico [syn: {beach pancake}]

1: prostrate herb having heads of deep pink to white flowers; found in coastal dunes from British Columbia to Baja California [syn: {beach sand verbena}, {pink sand verbena}]

1: soft-haired sticky plant with heads of bright pink trumpet-shaped flowers; found in sandy desert soil; after ample rains may carpet miles of desert with pink from the southwestern United States to ...

1: marked by sudden changes in subject and sharp transitions; "abrupt prose" [syn: {disconnected}] 2: exceedingly sudden and unexpected; "came to an abrupt stop"; "an abrupt change in the weather" 3: ...

1: a disorder of pregnancy in which the placenta prematurely separates from the wall of the uterus

1: an instance of breaking off suddenly [syn: {breaking off}]

1: quickly and without warning; "he stopped suddenly" [syn: {suddenly}, {short}, {dead}]

1: of a leaf shape; pinnate with a pair of leaflets at the apex [syn: {even-pinnate}, {paripinnate}]

1: pinnate with a pair of leaflets at the apex [syn: {even-pinnate leaf}]

1: an abrupt discourteous manner [syn: {brusqueness}, {curtness}, {gruffness}, {shortness}] 2: the property possessed by a slope that is very steep [syn: {precipitousness}, {steepness}] [ant: {gradual...

1: a mountainous region of central Italy on the Adriatic [syn: {Abruzzi e Molise}]

1: a mountainous region of central Italy on the Adriatic [syn: {Abruzzi}]

1: any of a class of plastics based on acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers

1: symptom consisting of a localized collection of pus surrounded by inflamed tissue

1: infected and filled with pus; "an abscessed tooth"

1: an abscess of a common kind in the tissue around a tooth

1: shed flowers and leaves and fruit following formation of a scar tissue 2: remove or separate by abscission

1: the value of a coordinate on the horizontal axis [also: {abscissae} (pl)]

{abscissa}

1: shedding of flowers and leaves and fruit following formation of scar tissue in a plant 2: the act of cutting something off [syn: {cutting off}]

1: run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along [syn: {bolt}, {absquatulate}, {decamp}, {run off}, {go off}]

1: a fugitive who runs away and hides to avoid arrest or prosecution

1: the act of running away secretly (as to avoid arrest) [syn: {decampment}]

1: a descent down a nearly vertical surface by using a doubled rope that is coiled around the body and attached to some higher point v : lower oneself with a double rope coiled around the body from a ...

1: a person who descends down a nearly vertical face by using a doubled rope that is wrapped around the body and attached to some high point

1: the state of being absent; "he was surprised by the absence of any explanation" [ant: {presence}] 2: failure to be present [ant: {presence}] 3: the time interval during which something or somebody ...

1: unauthorized military absence [syn: {unauthorized absence}]

1: not in a specified place physically or mentally [ant: {present}] 2: lost in thought; showing preoccupation; "an absent stare"; "an absentminded professer"; "the scatty glancing quality of a hyperac...

1: one that is absent or not in residence

1: (election) a ballot that is cast in absentia (usually mailed in prior to election day)

1: the percentage of workers who do not report to work

1: habitual absence from work

1: in an absent-minded or preoccupied manner; "he read the letter absently" [syn: {abstractedly}, {inattentively}, {absentmindedly}]

1: lost in thought; showing preoccupation; "an absent stare"; "an absentminded professer"; "the scatty glancing quality of a hyperactive but unfocused intelligence" [syn: {absent}, {abstracted}, {scat...

1: in an absent-minded or preoccupied manner; "he read the letter absently" [syn: {absently}, {abstractedly}, {inattentively}]

1: preoccupation so great that the ordinary demands on attention are ignored

1: strong green liqueur flavored with wormwood and anise [syn: {absinthe}]

1: aromatic herb of temperate Eurasia and North Africa having a bitter taste used in making the liqueur absinthe [syn: {common wormwood}, {old man}, {lad's love}, {Artemisia absinthium}] 2: strong gre...