abstain.
Keep or withhold oneself.
Meaning & usage
Keep or withhold oneself.
Refrain from (something or doing something); keep from doing, especially an indulgence.
In order to improve his health, Rob decided to abstain from smoking.
Refrain from (something or doing something); keep from doing, especially an indulgence. To refrain from drinking alcohol.
Fast (not eat for a period).
Deliberately refrain from casting one's vote at a meeting where one is present.
I abstain from this vote, as I have no particular preference.
Hinder; keep back; withhold.
Where this word comes from
First attested around 1380. From Middle English absteynen, absteinen, abstenen, from Old French astenir, abstenir, from Latin abstineō (“to hold oneself back”) from abs- (“from”) + teneō (“to hold”). See also tenable.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.