English▸ verb [with object]
1 take (someone) away by force or deception; kidnap:
the millionaire who disappeared may have been abducted.
2 Physiology (of a muscle) move (a limb or part) away from the midline of the body or from another part. The opposite of adduct1:
the posterior rectus muscle, which abducts the eye.
– ORIGIN early 17th century (in abducted, adjective): from Latin abduct- ‘led away’, from the verb abducere, from ab- ‘away, from’ + ducere ‘to lead’.