abductor
abductor Lexical Profile
abductor Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person who unlawfully seizes and carries away another person by force or fraud; a kidnapper.
"The witness provided police with a detailed description of the suspect's vehicle to help locate the abductor."
A muscle Whose contraction draws a limb or body part away from the midline of the body or from an adjacent part.
"The physical therapist prescribed targeted exercises to strengthen the hip abductor after the runner's injury."
Word Nuance & Usage
In anatomy, 'abductor' is easily confused with its opposite, 'adductor': an abductor pulls a limb away from the body's midline, whereas an adductor draws it inward toward the midline.
• Rhymes for abductor
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 17th century from Post-Classical Latin 'abductor', an agent noun from the verb 'abducere' ('to lead away'), formed from 'ab-' ('away from') and 'ducere' ('to lead').