abstain
to hold oneself back voluntarily, especially from something regarded as improper or unhealthy (usually followed by from): to abstain from eating meat.
to refrain from casting one's vote: a referendum in which two delegates abstained.
Origin of abstain
1Other words for abstain
Opposites for abstain
Other words from abstain
- non·ab·stain·ing, adjective
- o·ver·ab·stain, verb (used without object)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use abstain in a sentence
In the month leading up to La Paulée de New York, Johnnes abstains from alcohol.
Similarly if this fool abstains from pleasures, it is because of the weakness of his appetitive soul.
A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy | Isaac HusikA total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others.
The Devil's Dictionary | Ambrose BierceMany a person, who wishes to be abstemious, seems to think that if he only abstains from flesh and fish, that is enough.
Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages | William Andrus AlcottI do not know with certainty that he abstains entirely from flesh meat, but he is said to be rigidly temperate in other respects.
Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages | William Andrus Alcott
I think Lady Byron very judiciously abstains from pressing the consideration of it upon him at the present moment.
Byron | Richard Edgcumbe
British Dictionary definitions for abstain
/ (əbˈsteɪn) /
to choose to refrain: he abstained from alcohol
to refrain from voting, esp in a committee, legislature, etc
Origin of abstain
1Derived forms of abstain
- abstainer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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