'Refraining' definitions:
Definition of 'Refraining'
From: GCIDE
- Refrain \Re*frain"\ (r[-e]*fr[=a]n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Refrained (-fr[=a]nd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Refraining.] [OE. refreinen, OF. refrener, F. refr['e]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[.r] to hold.]
- 1. To hold back; to restrain; to keep within prescribed bounds; to curb; to govern. [1913 Webster]
- His reason refraineth not his foul delight or talent. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- Refrain thy foot from their path. --Prov. i. 15. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To abstain from. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- Who, requiring a remedy for his gout, received no other counsel than to refrain cold drink. --Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'refraining'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abstainment,
- abstemiousness,
- abstention,
- abstinence,
- asceticism,
- avoidance,
- avoiding reaction,
- banyan day,
- celibacy,
- chastity,
- circumvention,
- continence,
- defense mechanism,
- dodge,
- duck,
- elusion,
- elusiveness,
- Encratism,
- equivocation,
- escape,
- eschewal,
- evasion,
- evasive action,
- evasiveness,
- fast,
- fish day,
- forbearance,
- forestalling,
- forestallment,
- Friday,
- fruitarianism,
- getting around,
- gymnosophy,
- jink,
- Lenten fare,
- nephalism,
- neutrality,
- nonintervention,
- noninvolvement,
- plain living,
- prevention,
- Pythagoreanism,
- Pythagorism,
- Rechabitism,
- refrainment,
- sexual abstinence,
- Shakerism,
- shunning,
- shunting off,
- shy,
- sidestep,
- sidetracking,
- simple diet,
- slip,
- spare diet,
- Spartan fare,
- Stoicism,
- teetotalism,
- the pledge,
- the runaround,
- total abstinence,
- vegetarianism,
- zigzag