0 a square or rectangular frame holding an arrangement of small balls on metal rods or wires, used for counting or for doing calculations
1 a flat slab (= piece of stone, etc.) at the top of a column
2 a frame that holds thin metal rods with balls that slide on them, used for counting, adding, and subtracting
This all seems to point to the art of dispensing with the use of the abacus or counting table.
Only one out of three had even heard of an abacus.
The police national computer will be a mere abacus compared with the computer required to administer the national identity card scheme.
I think that somebody has run away with the abacus as the scheme will clearly cost considerably more.
In this interesting context, he suggested that abacus man had no heart, compassion or feeling.
I have only a simple abacus; how can it be so?
He is particularly rewarded if he foresees it and produces, say, a pocket calculator in place of an abacus; or even, these days, produces a pocket computer.
I have not used a slide rule, calculator or abacus to do the calculation, although before the end of the debate we may need an abacus.
