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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sub·duc·tion

Audio Help [suh

b-duhk-shuh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	an act or instance of subducting; subtraction or withdrawal.

2.	Geology. the process by which collision of the earth's crustal plates results in one plate's being drawn down or overridden by another, localized along the juncture (subduction zone) of two plates.

[Origin: 1570–80; < L subductiōn-, s. of subductiō pulling up, computation; see subduct, -ion

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Subduction

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sub·duc·tion Audio Help (səb-dŭk'shən) Pronunciation Key
n. A geologic process in which one edge of one crustal plate is forced below the edge of another.

[French, from Latin subductus, past participle of subdūcere, to draw away from below : sub-, sub- + dūcere, to lead; see deuk- in Indo-European roots.]

sub·duct' v., sub·duc'tal (-təl) adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
subduction

c.1620, "withdrawal, removal," from L. subductionem (nom. subductio), from subductus, pp. of subducere (see subduce). Geological sense is attested from 1970, from Fr. (1951).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

subduction
noun
a geological process in which one edge of a crustal plate is forced sideways and downward into the mantle below another plate

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

subduction Audio Help (səb-dŭk'shən) Pronunciation Key
A geologic process in which one edge of one lithospheric plate is forced below the edge of another. The denser of the two plates sinks beneath the other. As it descends, the plate often generates seismic and volcanic activity (from melting and upward migration of magma) in the overriding plate. Compare obduction.

subduct verb