as in to refuse
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Recent Examples of abstain
This year, Herbst abstained from a Feb. 4 commission vote that allows Bahia Mar to sell food and alcoholic beverages on the sand.
—
Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2025
The rules include abstaining from substances that are already forbidden by the LDS Church, practicing chastity, forgoing the use of profanity and following a dress code that prohibits men from wearing beards or goatees and requires skirts to be no shorter than knee-length.
—Ashley Hume, Fox News, 18 Mar. 2025
Trump has abstained from making security guarantees beyond an unsigned critical minerals agreement that would benefit the U.S. financially if private companies invest in Ukraine's natural resources.
—Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2025
These 40 days of Lent guide Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Fridays.
—Chrissy Suttles, Axios, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abstain
Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2025
The rules include abstaining from substances that are already forbidden by the LDS Church, practicing chastity, forgoing the use of profanity and following a dress code that prohibits men from wearing beards or goatees and requires skirts to be no shorter than knee-length.
—Ashley Hume, Fox News, 18 Mar. 2025
Trump has abstained from making security guarantees beyond an unsigned critical minerals agreement that would benefit the U.S. financially if private companies invest in Ukraine's natural resources.
—Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY, 18 Mar. 2025
These 40 days of Lent guide Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Fridays.
—Chrissy Suttles, Axios, 3 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for abstain
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstain
Verb
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The panel of House and Senate members argued over whether to punish the universities for their DEI initiatives — diversity, equity and inclusion — or whether to reward the schools for recent actions, like refusing to compete with a volleyball team with a transgender athlete.—
Carolyn Komatsoulis,
Idaho Statesman,
2 Apr. 2025
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Kylie said Jason refused to let the name just be Finn and insisted on Finnley.—
Ryan Canfield,
FOXNews.com,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The company must take the job listing down and reject all the candidates that applied.—
Kate Wieczorek,
Forbes.com,
1 Apr. 2025
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The letter was swiftly rejected and Khamenei accused Trump of trying to mislead global opinion by portraying Iran as unwilling to negotiate.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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That request was turned down, with a trial slated to start in September.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
1 Apr. 2025
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Puerto Rican label Rimas Entertainment is perhaps the biggest indie success story in Latin music; founded in 2014 by Noah Assad, it’s been the longtime home of Boricua superstar Bad Bunny, who has enjoyed an unprecedented level of success despite turning down multiple offers from major labels.—
Andrea Flores,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Yet, the didn't appear to be the case for Colton, who hesitated to answer before last week's episode concluded.—
Dory Jackson,
People.com,
4 Apr. 2025
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Touching on directing and managing the top teams at Nudie Jeans, Levin doesn’t hesitate.—
Angela Lei,
Forbes.com,
3 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Romney's Cass took Obama to task for opposing development of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge and for temporizing on the Keystone pipeline, while Obama's Aldy accused Romney of being insensitive to the environment and to the needs and desires of future generations.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
9 Oct. 2012
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Accompanying these principles must be a rejection of the impulse to temporize about the dangers that confront us and a rejection of the bizarre deprecation of our nation and civilization.—
Peter J. Travers,
National Review,
29 Mar. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Abstain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstain. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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