Meaning & use
adduct
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitivemedical
To move a limb or body part toward the midline of the body.
Grammar: Can take an object in commands or descriptions: adduct the arm; can also occur intransitively: the leg adducts.
Patterns
- adduct the arm/hip
- adduct toward the midline
- muscle that adducts
The patient was asked to adduct the arm across the chest.
These muscles adduct the thigh toward the midline.
Pain makes it hard to adduct the shoulder.
nouncountablechemistry
A chemical compound formed when two or more molecules combine directly.
Grammar: Chemistry sense is countable; pronunciation often shifts stress to the first syllable in technical speech.
Patterns
- form an adduct
- DNA adduct
- reactive adduct
The toxin forms a DNA adduct that can trigger mutations.
Chemists isolated the adduct after the reaction.
A stable adduct appeared when the two solutions mixed.
Word forms
| third-person singular | adducts |
|---|---|
| past tense | adducted |
| past participle | adducted |
| -ing form | adducting |
Common combinations
- adduct the hip
- The exercise asks you to adduct the hip slowly.
- adductor muscle
- An adductor muscle pulls the limb inward.
- form an adduct
- The two compounds form an adduct at room temperature.
Synonyms and how they differ
- draw inward
- Draw inward is plain descriptive language; adduct is the precise anatomy term.
Opposites
Word family
- adduction noun
- movement toward the midline
- adductor noun
- a muscle that adducts a limb
Commonly confused: adduct or abduct?
adduct vs abduct
Adduct moves toward the midline; abduct moves away. Abduct also means kidnap in everyday English.
Practice
Adduction moves a limb toward the body's midline, so adduct means to move _____.
Choose one answer.
Adduct is the opposite of abduct: it draws toward the midline. Away from the midline is abduction.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “adduct”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.