abstain

Part of speech: noun

Abstainer.

Part of speech: verb

To keep back; refrain; with from.

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Usage examples "abstain":

  1. They met a council of the Indians at Fort Wayne, whom Elisha Tyson addressed to the following effect: " He painted in glowing colors the dreadful effects of intemperance- both upon civilized and savage life- told them that they must resolve to abstain entirely from it. - "A Visit To The United States In 1841", Joseph Sturge.
  2. They give no more than they dare not with- hold; they abstain from nothing but what they must not practise. - "A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity.", William Wilberforce.
  3. The guilt is thine alone To do or to abstain. - "Pharsalia; Dramatic Episodes of the Civil Wars", Lucan.