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Meaning & use

extraction

noun·Academic

Last updated

UK/ɪkˈstræk.ʃən/
US/ɪkˈstræk.ʃən/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable or uncountable

    The act or process of taking something out, often with force, skill, or a technical method.

    Grammar: Use extraction for the general process; an extraction can name one specific removal.

    Patterns

    • extraction of something
    • tooth extraction
    • data extraction
    • resource extraction

    The extraction of the tooth took only minutes.

    New rules limit the extraction of groundwater.

    Oil extraction has changed the local economy.

  2. noununcountableformal

    A person's family origin or ethnic background, especially in the phrase of ... extraction.

    Grammar: Mostly fixed phrase: of Italian, Chinese, working-class extraction.

    Patterns

    • of Italian extraction
    • of humble extraction
    • family extraction

    She is a scientist of Irish extraction.

    The neighborhood included families of many extractions.

    His manners suggested an upbringing of modest extraction.

Word forms

pluralextractions

Common combinations

tooth extraction
He rested after a difficult tooth extraction.
data extraction
The report describes automatic data extraction from forms.
resource extraction
Resource extraction can bring jobs and environmental damage.
of Italian extraction
The cookbook celebrates cooks of Italian extraction.

Synonyms and how they differ

removal
Removal is the plain general word; extraction often suggests careful, forceful, or technical taking out.
withdrawal
Withdrawal suggests taking back or taking away, such as money or troops, rather than pulling something from a source.
derivation
Derivation can mean origin or obtaining something from a source, especially words, ideas, or substances.

Opposites

insertion

Word family

extract verb
To pull out or obtain something.
extract noun
A short selected part, or a concentrated substance.
extractor noun
A machine or person that removes something.

Commonly confused: extraction or extraction vs excerpt?

extraction vs extraction vs excerpt

Extraction is removal; an excerpt is a short quoted part of a text.

Practice

Which sentence uses extraction in the ancestry sense?

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