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Detain vs Abduct - What's the difference?

detain | abduct |

In lang=en terms the difference between detain and abduct

is that detain is to keep back or from; to withhold while abduct is to take away by force; to carry away (a human being) wrongfully and usually with violence or deception; to kidnap .

As verbs the difference between detain and abduct

is that detain is keep (someone) from proceeding by holding them back or making claims on their attention while abduct is to take away by force; to carry away (a human being) wrongfully and usually with violence or deception; to kidnap .

detain

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • Keep (someone) from proceeding by holding them back or making claims on their attention.
  • To put under custody.
  • To keep back or from; to withhold.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
  • Detain not the wages of the hireling.

    abduct

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To take away by force; to carry away (a human being) wrongfully and usually with violence or deception; to kidnap.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1904 , author=Jules Verne , title=The Master of the World , chapter=16 , url=http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/v/verne/jules/v52mw/chapter16.html , passage=That same night he had by force abducted the president and the secretary of the club, and had taken them, much against their will upon a voyage in the wonderful air-ship, the “Albatross,” which he had constructed.}}
  • (physiology) To draw away, as a limb or other part, from its ordinary position; to move similar parts apart.
  • Synonyms

    * kidnap * seize

    Derived terms

    * abductee * abductive

    References