What is the term for moving a limb away from the body's midline?

• A. Abduction
• B. Adduction
• C. Flexion
• D. Rotation

Answer: (A)

Moving a limb away from the body's midline is abduction. This is the motion you use when you lift an arm or a leg out to the side, away from the center of the body. It helps to picture raising your arm straight out to the side or spreading your toes apart. Abduction is different from adduction, which brings a limb toward the midline (like lowering the arm back down to the side). Flexion and rotation describe other kinds of joint movement: flexion bends a joint to reduce its angle, such as bending the elbow, while rotation involves turning a part around its axis, like turning the head or twisting the arm. A handy memory aid is that ab- means away, ad- means toward.