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Abstain vs Leave_off - What's the difference?

abstain | leave_off | Related terms |

In intransitive terms the difference between abstain and leave_off

is that abstain is deliberately refrain from casting one's vote at a meeting where one is present while leave_off is to stop with a view to resuming at a later point.

As verbs the difference between abstain and leave_off

is that abstain is keep or withhold oneself while leave_off is to omit.

abstain

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (transitive, reflexive, obsolete) Keep or withhold oneself.
  • Refrain from (something); hold one's self aloof; to forbear or keep from doing, especially an indulgence of the passions or appetites.
  • * Who abstains from meat that is not gaunt? - Shakespeare, Richard II, II-i
  • (obsolete) Fast.
  • Deliberately refrain from casting one's vote at a meeting where one is present.
  • * Not a few abstained from voting. -
  • (obsolete) Hinder; keep back; withhold.
  • * Whether he abstain men from marying [sic]. -
  • Usage notes

    * (keep or withhold oneself) Followed by the word from' or ' of . * (refrain from something) Followed by the word from .

    Synonyms

    * deny oneself * forbear * forgo * give up * refrain * relinquish * withhold

    Derived terms

    * abstention

    References

    Anagrams

    *

    leave_off

    English

    Verb

    (head)
  • (idiomatic) To omit.
  • (informal) To desist; to cease.
  • Leave off hitting him!
  • To stop with a view to resuming at a later point.
  • * July 18 2012 , Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises [http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/]
  • *:Picking up eight years after The Dark Knight left off , the film finds Gotham enjoying a tenuous peace based on Harvey Dent’s moral ideals rather than the ugly truth of his demise.
  • English phrasal verbs