Adjacent Words

Refrain definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

REFRA'IN, v.t. [L. refaeno; re and fraeno, to curb; fraenum, a rein. See Rein.]
To hold back; to restrain; to keep from action.
My son - refrain thy foot from their path. Proverbs 1.
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by. Genesis 45.
REFRA'IN, v.i. To forbear; to abstain; to keep one's self from action or interference.
Refrain from these men and let them alone. Acts 5.
REFRA'IN, n. The burden of a song; a kind of musical repetition.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the part of a song where a soloist is joined by a group of singers [syn: refrain, chorus] v
1: resist doing something; "He refrained from hitting him back"; "she could not forbear weeping" [syn: refrain, forbear] [ant: act, move]
2: choose not to consume; "I abstain from alcohol" [syn: abstain, refrain, desist] [ant: consume, have, ingest, take, take in]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English refreynen, from Anglo-French refreiner, refreindre, from Latin refrenare, from re- + frenum bridle — more at frenum Date: 14th century transitive verb archaic curb, restrain intransitive verb to keep oneself from doing, feeling, or indulging in something and especially from following a passing impulse <refrained from having dessert> • refrainment noun II. noun Etymology: Middle English refreyn, from Middle French refrain, alteration of Old French refrait melody, response, from past participle of refraindre to break up, moderate, from Vulgar Latin *refrangere, alteration of Latin refringere — more at refract Date: 14th century a regularly recurring phrase or verse especially at the end of each stanza or division of a poem or song ; chorus; also the musical setting of a refrain

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v.intr. (foll. by from) avoid doing (an action) (refrain from smoking). Derivatives: refrainment n. Etymology: ME f. OF refrener f. L refrenare (as RE-, frenum bridle) 2. n. 1 a recurring phrase or number of lines, esp. at the ends of stanzas. 2 the music accompanying this. Etymology: ME f. OF refrain (earlier refrait) ult. f. L refringere (as RE-, frangere break), because the refrain 'broke' the sequence

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Refrain Re*frain", 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. --Acts v. 38. They refrained therefrom [eating flesh] some time after. --Sir T. Browne. Syn: To hold back; forbear; abstain; withhold.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Refrain Re*frain" (r?*fr?n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Refrained (-fr?nd"); p. pr. & vb/ n. Refraining.] [OE. refreinen, OF. refrener, F. refr?ner, fr. L. refrenare; influenced by OF. refraindre to restrain, moderate, fr. LL. refrangere, for L. refringere to break up, break (see Refract). L. refrenare is fr. pref. re- back + frenum bridle; cf. Skr. dh? to hold.] 1. To hold back; to restrain; to keep within prescribed bounds; to curb; to govern. His reson refraineth not his foul delight or talent. --Chaucer. Refrain thy foot from their path. --Prov. i. 15. 2. To abstain from [Obs.] Who, requiring a remedy for his gout, received no other counsel than to refrain cold drink. --Sir T. Browne.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Refrain Re*frain", n. [F. refrain, fr. OF. refraindre; cf. Pr. refranhs a refrain, refranher to repeat. See Refract,Refrain, v.] 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. --Whittier.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(refrains, refraining, refrained) 1. If you refrain from doing something, you deliberately do not do it. Mrs Hardie refrained from making any comment... VERB: V from -ing/n 2. A refrain is a short, simple part of a song, which is repeated many times. ...a refrain from an old song. N-COUNT 3. A refrain is a comment or saying that people often repeat. Rosa's constant refrain is that she doesn't have a life. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Restrain, withhold, keep back, curb, govern. II. v. n. Abstain, forbear, withhold, hold one's self back. III. n. Burden (of a song).

Moby Thesaurus

PS, Parthian shot, Spenserian stanza, abandon, abort, abstain, abstain from, addendum, afterthought, air, anacrusis, antistrophe, appendix, aria, arrest, avoid, back matter, bass passage, belay, bis, bob, book, bourdon, bridge, burden, cadence, cancel, canto, cantus, cease, chant, check, chorus, coda, codicil, colophon, conclusion, consequence, constrain, continuance, continuation, couplet, curb, cut it out, descant, desist, development, discontinue, dispense with, distich, ditto, division, do without, double take, drop it, dying words, end, envoi, epilogue, epode, eschew, exposition, figure, folderol, follow-through, follow-up, forbear, forgo, give over, give up, halt, harmonic close, have done with, heptastich, hexastich, hold, hold aloof from, hold back, hold off, inhibit, interlude, intermezzo, interrupt, introductory phrase, keep, keep back, keep from, keep in hand, knock it off, last words, lay, lay off, leave off, let alone, let go by, line, measure, melodia, melodic line, melody, monostich, movement, musical phrase, musical sentence, never touch, not touch, not use, note, octastich, octave, octet, ornament, ottava rima, part, parting shot, pass up, passage, pentastich, period, peroration, phrase, postface, postfix, postlude, postscript, quatrain, quit, refrain from, relinquish, renounce, repeat, repetend, reprise, reserve, resolution, response, restrain, rhyme royal, ritornello, save, scrub, second thought, section, septet, sequel, sequela, sequelae, sequelant, sequent, sequitur, sestet, sextet, shun, solo, solo part, song, soprano part, spare, stand aloof from, stanza, statement, stave, stay, stop, strain, strophe, subscript, suffix, supplement, swan song, syllable, tag, tailpiece, tercet, terminate, terza rima, tetrastich, treble, triplet, tristich, tune, tutti, tutti passage, undersong, variation, verse, waive, withhold