Library / English Dictionary

REFRAIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The part of a song where a soloist is joined by a group of singers

Synonyms:

chorus; refrain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("refrain" is a kind of...):

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "refrain"):

tra-la; tra-la-la (a set of nonsensical syllables used while humming a refrain)

Holonyms ("refrain" is a part of...):

song; vocal (a short musical composition with words)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Choose not to consume

Example:

I abstain from alcohol

Synonyms:

abstain; desist; refrain

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refrain"):

fast (abstain from eating)

fast (abstain from certain foods, as for religious or medical reasons)

avoid; keep off (refrain from certain foods or beverages)

teetotal (practice teetotalism and abstain from the consumption of alcoholic beverages)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s VERB-ing

Sense 2

Meaning:

Resist doing something

Example:

she could not forbear weeping

Synonyms:

forbear; refrain

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "refrain"):

leave; leave alone; leave behind; let alone (leave unchanged or undisturbed or refrain from taking)

let it go (not act)

abstain (refrain from voting)

save; spare (refrain from harming)

forbear; hold back (refrain from doing)

help; help oneself (abstain from doing; always used with a negative)

stand by (not act or do anything)

sit out (not participate in (an activity, such as a dance or a sports event))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Antonym:

act (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Credits

 Context examples: 

Refrain from having a knee-jerk reaction and adding to the chaos.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

NOTE: CDER has decided to refrain from expanding the use of this dosage form due to difficulties in setting specific criteria that must be met to be considered augmented.

(Augmented Cream Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

It was she whom I had heard pecking at a piece of bark; it was she, keeping better watch than any human being, who thus announced my arrival with her wearisome refrain.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Emma was gratified, to observe such a proof in her of strengthened character, and refrained from any allusion that might endanger its maintenance.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

It would involve exercising regularly, refraining from smoking, eating a healthful diet and taking part in activities that stimulate the brain.

(Study: There's No Fail-safe Way to Prevent Dementia, VOA)

Next day you had my secret at your mercy, but you nobly refrained from pursuing your advantage.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Sometimes, preoccupied with her work, she sang the refrain very low, very lingeringly; "A long time ago" came out like the saddest cadence of a funeral hymn.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“I will not,” said Mrs. Micawber, finishing her punch, and gathering her scarf about her shoulders, preparatory to her withdrawal to my bedroom: “I will not protract these remarks on the subject of Mr. Micawber's pecuniary affairs. At your fireside, my dear Mr. Copperfield, and in the presence of Mr. Traddles, who, though not so old a friend, is quite one of ourselves, I could not refrain from making you acquainted with the course I advise Mr. Micawber to take. I feel that the time is arrived when Mr. Micawber should exert himself and—I will add—assert himself, and it appears to me that these are the means. I am aware that I am merely a female, and that a masculine judgement is usually considered more competent to the discussion of such questions; still I must not forget that, when I lived at home with my papa and mama, my papa was in the habit of saying, “Emma's form is fragile, but her grasp of a subject is inferior to none.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any harm were to befall it.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For two days Mrs. Morland allowed it to pass even without a hint; but when a third night's rest had neither restored her cheerfulness, improved her in useful activity, nor given her a greater inclination for needlework, she could no longer refrain from the gentle reproof of, My dear Catherine, I am afraid you are growing quite a fine lady.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)