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Refrain   /rɪfrˈeɪn/   Listen
verb
Refrain  v. t.  (past & past part. refrained; pres. part. refraining)  
1.
To hold back; to restrain; to keep within prescribed bounds; to curb; to govern. "His reason refraineth not his foul delight or talent." "Refrain thy foot from their path."
2.
To abstain from. (Obs.) "Who, requiring a remedy for his gout, received no other counsel than to refrain cold drink."



Refrain  v. i.  To keep one's self from action or interference; to hold aloof; to forbear; to abstain. "Refrain from these men, and let them alone." "They refrained therefrom (eating flesh) some time after."
Synonyms: To hold back; forbear; abstain; withhold.



noun
Refrain  n.  The burden of a song; a phrase or verse which recurs at the end of each of the separate stanzas or divisions of a poetic composition. "We hear the wild refrain."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Refrain" Quotes from Famous Books



... excitement when I confronted Vallington on the forward deck. If it was, his was not less so, and there was a lively prospect of a "family quarrel." With my strong consciousness that I had done right, or, at least, intended to do right, so far as our expedition was concerned, I could have afforded to refrain from heated expressions; and it would have been better if I had done so. It is no reason, because one person gets mad, that another should. It is more dignified, manly, and Christian for one always to control his ...
— Breaking Away - or The Fortunes of a Student • Oliver Optic

... down in a nearby chair. "All right, so I refrain from doing any more damage than I have to. ...
— What The Left Hand Was Doing • Gordon Randall Garrett

... midnight, o'er Judea's plain Was heard a song unknown before; The echoes of that sweet refrain Are reaching earth's ...
— From Jest to Earnest • E. P. Roe

... souvenirs of a month's vacation in the Adirondacks. While this was being done downstairs Helen busied herself in the library and bedroom, getting ready the things for his comfort—his dressing-gown, his slippers, his pipe. She detested pipes, as do most women, but she could not refrain from giving this pipe a furtive kiss, as she laid it lovingly on the table within easy reach of the arm-chair. The maids, changed since he went away, were laboriously instructed in what they should and should not do, what towels should be put in the luxurious ...
— The Mask - A Story of Love and Adventure • Arthur Hornblow

... were clad will ever be a mystery, save to the poor woman who strung the limp rags together and Him who watched the noble patience and sacrifice of a daily heroism. Of her own unsatisfied cravings, and the dense motherly horrors that sometimes brooded over her while she nursed these infants, let me refrain from speaking, since if as vividly depicted as they were real, you, Madam, could not endure to read of them. Her poor, unintelligent mind clung tenaciously to the controverted aphorism, "Where God sends mouths he sends food ...
— Ginx's Baby • Edward Jenkins


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