abduction

abduction
    n 1: the criminal act of capturing and carrying away by force a
         family member; if a man's wife is abducted it is a crime
         against the family relationship and against the wife
    2: (physiology) moving of a body part away from the central axis
       of the body
    

Abduction \Ab*duc"tion\, n. [L. abductio: cf. F. abduction.]
   1. The act of abducing or abducting; a drawing apart; a
      carrying away. --Roget.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Physiol.) The movement which separates a limb or other
      part from the axis, or middle line, of the body.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Law) The wrongful, and usually the forcible, carrying off
      of a human being; as, the abduction of a child, the
      abduction of an heiress.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Logic) A syllogism or form of argument in which the major
      is evident, but the minor is only probable.
      [1913 Webster]
    

abduction

   <logic> The process of {inference} to the best explanation.

   "Abduction" is sometimes used to mean just the generation of
   hypotheses to explain observations or conclusionsm, but the
   former definition is more common both in philosophy and
   computing.

   The {semantics} and the implementation of abduction cannot be
   reduced to those for {deduction}, as explanation cannot be
   reduced to implication.

   Applications include fault diagnosis, plan formation and
   {default reasoning}.

   {Negation as failure} in {logic programming} can both be given
   an abductive interpretation and also can be used to implement
   abduction.  The abductive semantics of negation as failure
   leads naturally to an {argumentation}-theoretic interpretation
   of default reasoning in general.

   [Better explanation?  Example?]

   ["Abductive Inference", John R. Josephson
   <[email protected]>].

   (2000-12-07)
    

ABDUCTION, crim. law. The carrying away of any person by force or fraud.
This is a misdemeanor punishable by indictment. 1 East, P.C. 458; 1 Russell,
569.  The civil remedies are recaption, (q.v.) 3 Inst. 134; Hal. Anal. 46; 3
Bl. Com 4; by writ of habeas corpus; and an action of trespass, Fitz. N. B.
89; 3 Bl. Com 139, n. 27; Roscoe, Cr. Ev. 193.
    

28 Moby Thesaurus words for "abduction":
      apprehension, arrest, arrestation, capture, catch, catching,
      collaring, coup, crimping, dragnet, forcible seizure, grab,
      grabbing, hold, impressment, kidnapping, nabbing, picking up,
      power grab, prehension, running in, seizure, seizure of power,
      shanghaiing, snatch, snatching, taking in, taking into custody