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Definitions

abstain

[ab-steyn] / æbˈsteɪn /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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"We must intensify efforts to help people quit tobacco use, avoid cancer-linked infections, abstain from alcohol, maintain a healthy weight, and get more daily exercise."

From Science Daily Sep. 7, 2026

Marra came to a deal with Sarwar – he was allowed to abstain.

From BBC Aug. 20, 2026

Mayra Goulart, political science professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, told AFP the main challenge for Lula and Flavio will be to reach "disengaged voters" who are highly likely to abstain.

From Barron's Aug. 16, 2026

Such “orphaned” voters — those left without a candidate of their party in a general election — are historically just as likely to abstain from voting or to vote based on far less strategic considerations.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 3, 2026

Though I follow the rules and routines of convent life, Angelina will not allow me to abstain from meat, as the sisters do.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

He clarified that this could mean that the party abstains on any vote for the next first minister after the 2026 Holyrood election.

From BBC Apr. 20, 2025

Recently persuaded by her teen daughter, Mae, to join social media, Hahn abstains from reading the comments.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 26, 2024

"But the truth is we know relatively little from this 50%, from this half of the population that abstains from electoral processes."

From Reuters Sep. 2, 2022

Like Trump, the former vice president has pointed to alcoholism in his family in explaining why he abstains.

From Seattle Times Sep. 10, 2020

I don’t know if the hose were clean, but I do notice that everyone on the show abstains from drinking lemonade that day.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

During his first stint as an MP, Burnham abstained from a 2015 vote on another bill to legalise assisted dying because of concerns over safeguards and people feeling under pressure.

From BBC Sep. 10, 2026

Aimed at "a more accurate representation" of continental landmasses, the resolution was supported by 164 countries while the United States voted against it and six other states abstained.

From Barron's Sep. 4, 2026

Norway's football federation abstained and argued the bidding process undermined "Fifa's reforms for good governance" and challenged "trust in Fifa".

From BBC Jul. 6, 2026

Supervisors Kathryn Barger, Janice Hahn and Holly Mitchell abstained from voting on the motion to extend the protection, while Supervisors Hilda Solis and Horvath supported it.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 3, 2026

More than a third of the senators abstained from voting.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

In 2020, Milan Township passed an ordinance that would allow the project to go forward, with Heath’s brother, the township supervisor, abstaining.

From Salon Apr. 27, 2026

Most voters our columnist spoke with are following the new rule to watch everything, or abstaining from certain categories.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 13, 2026

Although she did not agree a deal for the new budget Jane Dodds, the Welsh Liberal Democrat leader and the party's only MS, said she would also be abstaining on the budget.

From BBC Jan. 27, 2026

There were 13 votes in favour of the text and none against, with Russia and China both abstaining but not deploying their veto as permanent members.

From Barron's Nov. 18, 2025

I remember reading about Pythagoras around this time, and finding some of his ideas curiously appealing—wearing white garments, for instance, or abstaining from foods which have a soul.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt




Vocabulary lists containing abstain


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