1. An idea or a way of thinking that is not related to real situations or practical experiences: The professor told his class that in some cases, "beauty" and "truth" were simply abstractions.
2. An emotional or mental condition that takes a person's attention away from what is happening around him or her: Mildred was looking out of the classroom window in abstraction whileD she was thinking about her sick mother during the teacher's presentation.
3. The act of obtaining or removing something from a source: Dr. Black told Sam, his patient, that the abstraction of the tumor during surgery went well and that it was not malignant!