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Abstain vs Pause - What's the difference?

abstain | pause | Related terms |

Abstain is a related term of pause.


As verbs the difference between abstain and pause

is that abstain is (transitive|reflexive|obsolete) keep or withhold oneself while pause is .

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

    Related terms

    * abstinence

    References

    Anagrams

    *

    pause

    English

    Verb

    (paus)
  • To interrupt an activity and wait.
    • When telling the scary story, he paused for effect.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
    • Tarry, pause a day or two.
  • * (John Milton) (1608-1674)
    • pausing while thus to herself she mused
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=15 citation , passage=She paused and took a defiant breath. ‘If you don't believe me, I can't help it. But I'm not a liar.’ ¶ ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough!
  • To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
    • Why doth the Jew pause ? Take thy forfeiture.
  • To halt the play or playback of, temporarily, so that it can be resumed from the same point.
    • to pause a song, a video, or a computer game
  • (obsolete) To consider; to reflect.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
    • Take time to pause .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
  • * , chapter=23
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward. The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.}}
  • A short time for relaxing and doing something else.
  • Hesitation; suspense; doubt.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
    • I stand in pause where I shall first begin.
  • In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation mark.
  • A break or paragraph in writing.
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
    • He writes with warmth, which usually neglects method, and those partitions and pauses which men educated in schools observe.
  • (as direct object) take pause': hesitate; give ' pause : cause to hesitate