abstainab‧stain /əbˈsteɪn/ ●○○ verb [intransitive] 
Six countries voted for the change, five voted against, and two abstained.2to not do or have something you enjoy, especially alcohol or sex, usually for reasons of religion or healthabstain from Pilots must abstain from alcohol for 24 hours before flying.
WORD ORIGINabstain
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French abstenir, from Latin abstinere, from abs- ‘away’ + tenere ‘to hold’VERB TABLE
abstain
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | abstain |
| he, she, it | abstains | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | abstained |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have abstained |
| he, she, it | has abstained | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had abstained |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will abstain |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have abstained |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am abstaining |
| he, she, it | is abstaining | |
| you, we, they | are abstaining | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was abstaining |
| you, we, they | were abstaining | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been abstaining |
| he, she, it | has been abstaining | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been abstaining |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be abstaining |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been abstaining |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Catholics are supposed to abstain from meat on Good Friday.
- Junior politicians are supposed to abstain from criticizing the government.
- Most of the church members drink only moderately or abstain completely.
- The sex education program encourages teens to abstain.
- Three members of the committee abstained.
- Trial volunteers are told to abstain from watching TV for a month.
- You should abstain from food and caffeinated drinks before the operation.
- Babies born to women who did not abstain from drinking during pregnancy also tend to exhibit abnormal sleep patterns after birth.
- But 26m voters, or 69 % of the electorate, abstained.
- Mayor Mike Martini, a winery owner, abstained and the vote Tuesday ended up 3-3.
- Only 10 percent abstain by choice.
- Qiao Shi, the intelligence chief who had abstained in the martial law vote earlier, endorsed an immediate army crackdown.
- The Government abstained on a different aspect relating to the treaty of Rome basis.
- There was a total of 12 candidates; although voting was obligatory an estimated 25 percent of the 5,700,000 electorate abstained.
Longman Language Activatorto decide it is better not to do something
formal to not do something that you want to do or usually do, especially because you do not want to offend or upset someone: · Kate wanted to slap Keith round the face but she refrained.refrain from: · Rand refrained from comment on the scandal involving his opponent.refrain from doing something: · Please refrain from smoking in the restaurant.
to decide not to do something, especially something enjoyable, because it is considered to be bad for your health or morally wrong: · Most of the church members drink only moderately or abstain completely.abstain from: · You should abstain from food and caffeinated drinks before the operation.abstain from doing something: · Junior politicians are supposed to abstain from criticizing the government.
to not do something extreme, even though what you have been doing or saying until now makes this very likely to be the next thing you do: · The US was willing to support sanctions, but stopped short of military intervention.stop short of doing something: · Morris has strongly criticized Paulson's writings but stops short of calling him a racist.
to not do something, especially because you are worried about what will happen if you do: · He wanted to tell her everything, but something made him hold back.hold back from doing something: · Republicans have expressed interest in the plan but have held back from making a commitment.
to stop yourself from doing something you want to do, because you do not want to offend someone, spoil a secret etc: · It was all I could do to keep from hitting him.keep yourself from doing something: · Sara was so excited, she could hardly keep herself from giving away the whole plan.
to decide or agree not to do something, especially because it is likely to be unsuccessful or is unnecessary: · Look, we aren't making any progress - let's just forget the whole idea.forget it spoken: · If you're not going to take this project seriously we might as well forget it.
to not do something that you were going to do, or to think very carefully before you do it, because you know it could have a bad result: · Anyone thinking about having unprotected sex should think twice.think twice about: · I hope this latest attack will make people think twice about mindless violence towards ethnic minorities.think twice before doing something: · The heavy penalties are designed to make people think twice before committing a crime.
to not allow yourself to have something you need to choose or decide not to have something, especially because there is not enough of it, because you need to save money, or for religious reasons: · His parents often did without lunch or supper so that he could have more.· During the month of Ramadan, Muslims go without food and drink between the hours of sunrise and sunset.· Meat was expensive and a lot of people went without.· Cuts have to be made, and city residents need to think about what services they can do without.
to not do or have things you enjoy because you think this will be good for you: · Girls who constantly deny themselves food in order to get thin rarely do well at school.· I worked hard, lived frugally, and denied myself material goods in order to achieve financial security.
to not do something that you usually do or that you want to do, especially for health or moral reasons: · The sex education program encourages teens to abstain.abstain from: · Catholics are supposed to abstain from meat on Good Friday.abstain from doing something: · Trial volunteers are told to abstain from watching TV for a month.
also forego formal to not have or do something good or something you enjoy, especially for moral reasons, because of your principles etc: · Senior board members have offered to forgo their annual bonuses this year.· Novices were expected to forgo all earthly pleasures and concentrate on the hereafter.
WORD SETSabstain, verbabstention, nounadopt, verbballot, nounballot box, nounballot paper, nounblackball, verbby-election, nouncasting vote, nouncloture, nounconstituency, nounconstituent, noundeliver, verbdeposit, noundeselect, verbdisenfranchise, verbdisfranchise, verbdivision, noundoorstep, verbdream ticket, nounelect, verbelection, nounelectioneering, nounelective, adjectiveelector, nounelectoral, adjectiveelectoral register, nounelectorate, nounenfranchise, verbexit poll, nounfloating voter, nounfranchise, noungeneral election, nounhung parliament, nounlobby, nounmajority, nounmotion, nounno, nounoff-year, nounopen primary, nounoutvote, verboverall majority, nounplebiscite, nounplurality, nounpocket veto, nounpoint of order, nounpoll, nounpolling, nounpolling booth, nounpolling day, nounpolling station, nounpollster, nounPR, nounprimary, nounprimary election, nounproportional representation, nounpsephology, nounrecount, nounre-elect, verbreferendum, nounresolution, nounresolve, verbreturn, verbreturning officer, nounrig, verbrun, verbrun-off, nounscrutineer, nounshow of hands, nounslate, nounsplit ticket, nounspoil, verbsponsor, nounsponsor, verbstalking horse, nounstraight ticket, nounstraw poll, nounstronghold, nounsuffrage, nountactical voting, nounteller, nounthree-line whip, nounvote, verbvote of censure, nounvote of confidence, nounvote of no confidence, nounvoter, nounvoting machine, nounward, nounwrite-in, nounX, nounyea, nounyes, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Pilots must abstain from alcohol for 24 hours before flying.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
1to choose not to vote for or against something: Pilots must abstain from alcohol for 24 hours before flying.· Dexy's used to workout together, they abstained from alcohol and drugs.· The celebrant receives a medallion which indicates the length of time that person has abstained from alcohol.· With his inherent love of life, he started meeting people socially again, although he abstained from alcohol and cigarettes.
· He was the eighth of 18 Cabinet ministers to say he might abstain or vote against an agreement.· Mayor Mike Martini, a winery owner, abstained and the vote Tuesday ended up 3-3.· Two deputies abstained in the vote.
Six countries voted for the change, five voted against, and two abstained.2to not do or have something you enjoy, especially alcohol or sex, usually for reasons of religion or healthabstain from Pilots must abstain from alcohol for 24 hours before flying.