Noun

(-)

The act or practice of abstaining, refraining from indulging a desire or appetite.

Penance, fasts, and abstinence , / To punish bodies for the soul's offense. -

The abstinence from a present pleasure that offers itself is a pain, nay, oftentimes, a very great one. —

Complete abstinence is easier than perfect moderation. —

# Specifically, the practice of abstaining from intoxicating/alcoholic beverages; total abstinence; teetotalism).

# Specifically, the practice of abstaining from sexual intercourse, either permanently or until marriage.

# (ecclesiastical) Abstention from certain foods on days of penitential observance.

The practice of self-denial; self-restraint; forebearance from anything.

(obsolete) Self-denial; abstaining; or forebearance of anything.

(business) Delay of spending to accrue capital.

Noun

(en noun)

(logic) The negation in logic.

A refusal to comply with a request.

An assertion of untruth.

Refusal to believe a problem exists

*{{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. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.}}

(dated, psychology) A defense mechanism involving a refusal to accept the truth of a phenomenon or prospect.

* 2007 Feb. 11, " No facts, just emotion," Washington Times (retrieved 11 June 2013):

"Denial " came out of the therapyspeak prevalent in the middle of the 20th century, especially as it was applied to confronting the reality of mortality. It was popularized as the first stage of grief, and quickly expanded to include refusal to confront any bad news or disturbing ideas.