Definition of "abstraction" []

• The act of abstracting or the state of having been abstracted. (noun)
• An abstract concept, idea, or term. (noun)
• An abstract quality. (noun)
• Preoccupation; absent-mindedness. (noun)
• An abstract work of art. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Under the rubric of water resource development, dam building and river fragmentation are the main factors threatening biodiversity, while water abstraction is the main threat to human water security."
• "Boundaries are ubiquitous, and I am convinced the ability to detect boundaries/edges at ever higher levels of abstraction is the key to real fluid intelligence and concept formation."
• "Every level of abstraction is accurate, new, useful, and nonobvious."