-tion

The process of having been carried or taken away, such as a wife, a child, a ward, or a voter: In many parts of the world, the abductions of minors under the age of sixteen take place without the consent of their parents or guardians.

The story of the Lindbergh baby abduction on March 1, 1932, was news all around the world when the child's absence was discovered and reported to his parents, who were at home, at approximately 10:00 p.m.

Today there are many reports of abductions taking place in impoverished countries.

1. A low or downcast state, humiliation: The abjection of poverty made it difficult for Eileen to raise her children and send them to school.
2. A condition of being servile, wretched, or contemptible: In school, the students studied the various abjections of human situations and learned strategies that would help them to avoid miserable lives in the future.

1. A washing or cleansing, such as a religious ceremony of purification, a ceremonial washing, or the ritualistic freeing of a person or people from sin or guilt: The priest performed ceremonies of ablutions for his followers.

In some religions, an ablution may be a prescribed washing of part or all of the body or of possessions, such as clothing or ceremonial objects with the intent of purification or dedication.

2. The liquid used in showering which may refer to the practice of removing sins, diseases, or earthly defilements through the use of ritual deputation or to become purified or cleansed: Before saying his prayers, Gregory used an ablution that represented the spiritual cleansing of his sins.

Like most ritual acts, ablutions may carry a wide range of meanings for those who perform it, for example the act of cleansing may be only a gesture that is symbolic of a desired purity of the soul.

3. A scrubbing of a person's body or body parts; a bathing, a cleaning: Because of the heat, Charlene felt the need for a refreshing ablution.

After consecutive ablutions at the sink, Pearl was finally able to wash the smell of garlic off her hands.

Gertrude's husband performed an ablution of his feet every night before going to bed.

4. Etymology: from Latin abluere, "to wash off"; ab-, "away" + luere, "to wash".
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1. The officially end of a law, a regulation, or a practice: The petition by the people resulted in the abolition of the unfair taxes.

The senator fought for the abolition of the current income tax law.

2. The process of doing away with or the state of being done away with, such as an annulment: The students requested further abolitions of unfair practices at the university.

An instance of suddenly breaking away or off: The accident caused a sudden and violent abruption of aircraft parts.

1. The soaking up of liquids by solids, or of gases by solids or liquids: Judy's mother used a special cloth to facilitate the absorption of the spilled milk.
2. The taking up of light or of its rays by black or colored rays: The absorption of the illumination by the black cloth seemed to be adequate.
3. The retention of radiant heat by the body, causing a rise in body temperature: Stanley was feeling quite hot which was caused by the absorption of the heat from the sun when he was at the beach.
4. The reduction in intensity of an X-ray photon as it passes through a substance or a beam of light as it passes through a solution which is used in clinical photometry as well as nuclear methods: At the laboratory the technicians were able to monitor the absorption of the electromagnetic energy as it passed through the blue solution.
5. The passage of a substance through some surface of the body into body fluids and tissues, such as the passage of ether through the respiratory epithelium of the lungs into the blood during anesthesia, or the passage of oil of wintergreen through the skin, which is the result of several processes like diffusion, filtration, and osmosis: Rodney, the anesthesiologist, frequently checked the level of absorption of the ether during the surgery.
6. The process by which a liquid or gas is drawn into the permeable pores of a solid material: The clean gauze bandage slowed the absorption of the blood from the wound.
7. In physiology, the passage of substances across and into tissues, such as the passage of digested food molecules into intestinal cells or the passage of liquid into kidney tubules: The various types of medical absorptions include agglutinin absorption, cutaneous absorption, external absorption, intestinal absorption, parenteral absorption, and pathological absorption.

A large pit used to absorb effluent from a septic tank; usually, filled with coarse aggregate arranged within a distribution system.

A device that transfers thermal energy from a heat source to a heat sink through an absorbent fluid and a refrigerant.

Most commercial absorption chillers use lithium bromide (a salt) and water as the fluid pair, with lithium bromide being the absorbent and water the refrigerant.

1. A voluntary decision to do without something: Susan's abstention from chocolate was a choice she made because it was causing skin problems.
2. A refusal to ballot either for or against a proposal: The committee vote resulted in five ayes, ten nays, and four abstentions.
3. A deliberate rejection: The abstention by the mayor during the vote resulted in the proposal being defeated.

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!

The process of wasting away, gradual destruction. (Considered obsolete or out of date).

1. The growth or increase in size by gradual external addition, accumulation, fusion, inclusion, or the growing together of separate things.

People who have money in the bank may expect interest to accrue or to grow as the years pass; so there are those who may then refer of the accretion of their capital.

2. In astronomy, a process in which matter that is revolving around an astronomical object is gradually pulled in and added to the body's mass as a result of gravity.
3. A process by which a body of rock or a landmass increases in size as a result of material accumulating on or around it resulting from alluvial deposits or water-borne sediments.

1. A process or state of functioning: Jesse was told by the mechanic that his car was not in action yet.

An action may apply to more than one procedure and therefore it often suggests continued or repeated efforts over a period of time.

2. A process that one consciously does and which may be characterized by physical or mental procedures: Ted was told that getting his work assignment done was a crisis that demanded action and not an argument.

The process of cutting by means of an electrosurgical needle; electrosurgery: Because Jane broke her arm, Dr. Tenneson had to do an acusection and make sure that the bones were set correctly