Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Abstract \Ab*stract"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Abstracted}; p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Abstracting}.] [See {Abstract}, a.]
   1. To withdraw; to separate; to take away.

            He was incapable of forming any opinion or
            resolution abstracted from his own prejudices. --Sir
                                                  W. Scott.

   2. To draw off in respect to interest or attention; as, his
      was wholly abstracted by other objects.

            The young stranger had been abstracted and silent.
                                                  --Blackw. Mag.

   3. To separate, as ideas, by the operation of the mind; to
      consider by itself; to contemplate separately, as a
      quality or attribute. --Whately.

   4. To epitomize; to abridge. --Franklin.

   5. To take secretly or dishonestly; to purloin; as, to
      abstract goods from a parcel, or money from a till.

            Von Rosen had quietly abstracted the bearing-reins
            from the harness.                     --W. Black.

   6. (Chem.) To separate, as the more volatile or soluble parts
      of a substance, by distillation or other chemical
      processes. In this sense extract is now more generally
      used.