FluentPlex

refrain

/ɹɪˈfɹeɪn/ verb C1
  1. To stop oneself from some action or interference; to abstain; to eschew (intransitive)

He/she/it refrains · Past refrained · Past participle refrained · -ing form refraining

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Verb forms

Base form
refrain
He/she/it
refrains
Past
refrained
Past participle
refrained
-ing form
refraining

From the library

Morrel saw it was useless to say more, and refrained.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 897 · C1
He then said to himself, “I shall no longer distress myself at being struck at by these Gamecocks, when I see that they cannot even refrain from quarreling with each other.”
Three Hundred Aesop's Fables, p. 82 · B2
Fernand closed his eyes, a burning sensation passed across his brow, and he was compelled to support himself by the table to prevent his falling from his chair; but in spite of all his efforts, he could not refrain from uttering a deep groan, which, however, was lost amid the noisy felicitations of the company.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 27 · C1
So goes the old refrain.
A Child's Garden of Verses, p. 25 · C1

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.