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Abstain vs Remain - What's the difference?

abstain | remain |

As verbs the difference between abstain and remain

is that abstain is (transitive|reflexive|obsolete) keep or withhold oneself while remain is to stay behind while others withdraw; to be left after others have been removed or destroyed; to be left after a number or quantity has been subtracted or cut off; to be left as not included or comprised.

As a noun remain is

state of remaining; stay.

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

    *

    remain

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • State of remaining; stay.
  • That which is left; relic; remainder; -- chiefly in the plural.
  • (plural only) remains : That which is left of a human being after the life is gone; relics; a dead body.
  • The posthumous works or productions, especially literary works of one who is dead.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To stay behind while others withdraw; to be left after others have been removed or destroyed; to be left after a number or quantity has been subtracted or cut off; to be left as not included or comprised.
  • * Bible, (w) vi. 12
    • Gather up the fragments that remain .
  • * (John Locke)
    • Thatremains to be proved.
  • To continue unchanged in place, form, or condition, or undiminished in quantity; to abide; to stay; to endure; to last.
  • * Bible, (Genesis) xxxviii. 11
    • Remain a widow at thy father's house.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
    • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […]  But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.}}
  • To await; to be left to.
  • (copulative) To continue in a state of being.

    • Synonyms

    * (l) * (l) * (l)

    Derived terms

    * remain to be seen

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    *