1. The act or process of including or incorporating a thing into something else; esp., the application of rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution to actions by the states.
2. Int’l law. The merger of one nation into another, whether voluntarily or by subjugation.
3. Labor law. In a postmerger collective-bargaining agreement, a provision allowing seniority for union members in the resulting entity.
4. Real estate. The rate at which property will be leased or sold on the market at a given time.
5. Commercial law. A sales method by which a manufacturer pays the reseller’s freight costs, which the manufacturer accounts for before quoting the reseller a price. — Also termed (in sense 5) freight absorption. — absorb, vb.
