abstracts

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of abstract.

   Conference organizers asked authors to submit their abstracts by Friday.

   The reviewers compared the two abstracts and noted overlapping claims.

   Note

   A plural that shares its spelling with a verb: the same letters serve for he, she or it, so only the sentence tells you which you have. As a noun it most naturally counts summaries of longer papers, as in conference abstracts. It can also count concentrated essences, including powdered medicinal extracts mixed with lactose, or abstractions in general, the things that exist only in idealized form.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of abstract.

   The software abstracts key findings from each document automatically.

   A good editor abstracts the core argument so readers grasp it quickly.

   Note

   The verb form for he, she or it, spelled exactly like the plural noun. Its range runs from separating or drawing something out, as when a program abstracts data, to drawing off someone's attention or withdrawing oneself. Watch the subject and object: someone who abstracts funds from a till has, in polite disguise, stolen them. The old sense of extracting by distillation is obsolete.

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