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Possible definitions for abaction

abortion
Expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it can survive on its own. Spontaneous abortions are called miscarriages. Induced abortions occur today through intentional medical intervention and are performed to preserve the mother's life or health, to prevent the completion of a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, to prevent the birth of a child with serious medical problems, or because the mother does not believe she is in a position to rear a child properly. During the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, abortions are performed by sucking or scraping out the contents of the uterus. The drug RU 486, if taken within a few weeks of conception, will trigger a miscarriage. Up to about 19 weeks of pregnancy, injections of saline solutions or hormones may be used to stimulate uterine contractions that will expel the fetus. Hysterotomy, the surgical removal of the contents of the uterus, may be used in the second trimester or later. The social acceptability of abortion as a means of population control has varied from time to time and place to place throughout history. It was apparently a common method of family limitation in the Greco-Roman world, but Christian theologians early and vehemently condemned it. It became widely accepted in Europe in the Middle Ages. Severe criminal sanctions to deter abortion became common in the 19th cent., but in the 20th cent. those sanctions were gradually modified in many countries. In the U.S., the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision had the effect of legalizing abortion on demand through the first three months of pregnancy; the decades since have seen fierce debate between supporters and opponents of a liberalized abortion policy.


auction
Buying and selling of property through open public bidding. Typically, potential purchasers make a succession of increasing bids or offers until the highest (and final) bid is accepted by the auctioneer. At a so-called Dutch auction, by contrast, the seller offers property at successively lower prices until one of his offers is accepted or until the price drops so low as to force the withdrawal of the offered property. Prospective buyers are usually allowed to examine auction items beforehand, and sellers may set a minimum price below which the property will not be sold. Auctions are important in the agricultural markets of many countries, permitting the rapid sale of perishable goods. Other items often sold at auction include artwork and antiques, secondhand goods, and farms and buildings repossessed by banks or the government. Auction selling is also employed on stock and commodity exchanges.


fraction
In arithmetic, a number expressed as a quotient, in which a numerator is divided by a denominator. In a simple fraction, both are integers. A complex fraction has a fraction in the numerator or denominator. In a proper fraction, the numerator is less than the denominator. If the numerator is greater, it is called an improper ...

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