Abstract in legal terms: an abridgment or act of withdrawal that condenses larger authoritative material. Abstract denotes an abridgment or concentrated summary of a larger matter, containing essential qualities of the whole; Black's Law Dictionary treats it as a lesser quantity with the force of a greater. A transcript is more comprehensive than an abstract. As a verb, abstract means to withdraw or remove (e.g., funds) and to summarize or abridge material, placing the term within legal reference works and practice guides as a tool for condensing authoritative content.