Word Finder - refrain

definition

To hold back, to restrain (someone or something).

definition

To show restraint; to hold oneself back.

definition

To repress (a desire, emotion etc.); to check or curb.

definition

(with preposition "from") To stop oneself from some action or interference; to abstain.

definition

To abstain from (food or drink).

You must refrain from action.

Please refrain from smoking in the bedrooms.

She could not refrain from weeping at these words.

Refrain from smoking in the bedrooms.

He will refrain from planting.

You must refrain from all interference.

She knew her remarks sounded unnatural, but could not refrain from asking some more questions.

It is important to refrain from action, on the basis of any such information.

Before our coda, allow us to sing one last refrain.

Meanwhile, throughout the middle ages, it had been the policy of Venice to refrain from conquests on the Italian mainland, and to confine her energies to commerce in the East.

But in 187 3 he resigned his portfolio as a protest against the ministry's resolve to refrain from warlike action against Korea.

The man did not refrain from voting.

You must refrain from such acts and restore respect for the rule of law.

Further, it would be unreasonable to suppose that Mark, even if he relied chiefly on what he had heard Peter teach, would refrain from using any other sources of information which he possessed.

Before his coronation he had renounced the right, so jealously guarded by Henry V., of assisting in the election of bishops and abbots, and he even undertook to refrain from exacting homage from the prelates and to content himself with fealty.

To Princess Mary it was strange that now, at a moment when such sorrow was filling her soul, there could be rich people and poor, and the rich could refrain from helping the poor.

In accordance with universal ideas of the reality of the " name," there are tribes who will refrain from mentioning the serpent.

They needed to refrain from such acts and restore respect for the rule of law.

Among his Cornish Ballads (1869) the most famous is on "Trelawny," the refrain of which, "And shall Trelawny die," &c., he declared to be an old Cornish saying.

It was a repeated refrain, "I've been thinking about my childhood."

It does not follow that I cannot refrain from planting.

After the birth of his first child, Augusta, in 1737, Frederick was ordered by the king to quit St James' Palace, and the foreign ambassadors were requested to refrain from visiting him.

The wide separation of the two Montenegrin columns offered the Turks a tempting opportunity of manoeuvre on interior lines, but, for the reasons given above, Hasan Riza was obliged to refrain, and the Montenegrin northern group broke through a series of passively defended positions one after the other.

In the interest of patient safety, please refrain from using mobile phones within the hospital.

On the way home, Prince Andrew could not refrain from asking Kutuzov, who was sitting silently beside him, what he thought of tomorrow's battle.

The "man of great merit," despite his desire to obtain the post of director, could not refrain from reminding Prince Vasili of his former opinion.

Vegetarians refrain from eating meat for various reasons, including religious, health, and ethical ones.

For a wax treatment, it is recommended your hair be at least ¼ inch long, so refrain from shaving before going into the salon for your appointment.

Others would be asked to refrain from talking, as much as possible.

While this is okay occasionally, refrain from doing it more than a few times a month.

In estimating the work of one who stands at the head of the religious and legal institutions of Israel, it is necessary to refrain from interpreting the traditions from a modern legal standpoint or in the light of subsequent ideas and beliefs for which the sources themselves give no authority.

At the same time he remained thoroughly master of himself and had the self-control to refrain or to enjoy.

The foreign ministers then arranged a compromise between the contending parties, according to which President Peixoto was to place no artillery in the city, while Admiral Mello was to refrain from bombarding the town, which was thus saved from destruction.

It is often difficult to obtain quite accurate or even adequate reproductions of scenes and subjects, and, when this is done, it is obviously necessary to refrain from treating the work of the old artists and sculptors as equivalent to photographic representations.

Civil war seemed inevitable, when the szlachta of Red Russia and Sieradz suddenly rallied to the king, who at once ordered his army to advance, and after defeating the insurrectionists at Janowiec (in October), granted them a full pardon, on the sole condition that they should refrain from all such acts of rebellion in future.

In fact, it has become the equivalent of an order of knighthood, the members of which form a brotherhood bound by oath to succour each other at need and to refrain from fighting among themselves.

They began with the convents, and Oecolampadius was able to refrain in public worship on certain festival days from some practices he believed to be superstitious.

The aim is not self-destruction, but self-preservation; and yet the ethics of Manichaeism appears in point of fact as thoroughly ascetic. The Manichaean had, above all, to refrain from sensual enjoyment, shutting himself up against it by three seals - the signaculum oris, manus and sinus.

When Balaam reached the frontier of Moab Balak was waiting to welcome him, but could not refrain from asking why he had not come with the first embassy.

I know they learned a lesson to refrain from touting their operation.

They decided to refrain from planting anything new.

All this is to repeat the refrain that the tool is a reflection of the mind of the tool-maker.

His comments echo an increasingly common refrain ringing out across the globe.

In the interest of patient safety please refrain from using mobile phones within the hospital.

The people, giving judgment, could scarce refrain from violence, and signified their verdict by their acclamations.

It suggests a state of the nation novel, but equally it is the familiar refrain of the old and middle aged.

Even for very young children, a simple story with a repetitive refrain or a simple mystery to solve gives a confidence boost.

Second - even if governments refrain from these mild persecutions, identity cards will tend to establish a despotism.

In the interest of fellow diners, please refrain from smoking at the table.

The guru instructs the disciple to perform certain works and refrain from others.