 5 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
refrain
noun: the part of a song where a soloist is joined by a group of
singers [syn: {chorus}]
verb
1: not do something; "He refrained from hitting him back"; "she
could not forbear weeping" [syn: {forbear}] [ant: {act}]
2: choose no to consume; "I abstain from alcohol" [syn: {abstain},
{desist}] [ant: {consume}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Refrain \Re*frain"\ (r[-e]*fr[=a]n"), verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p.
{Refrained} (-fr[=a]nd"); p. pr. & vb. n. {Refraining}.] [OE.
refreinen, OF. refrener, F. refr['e]ner, fr. L. refrenare;
influenced by OF. refraindre to restrain, moderate, fr. LL.
refrangere, for L. refringere to break up, break (see
{Refract}). L. refrenare is fr. pref. re- back + frenum
bridle; cf. Skr. dh[.r] to hold.]
1. To hold back; to restrain; to keep within prescribed
bounds; to curb; to govern.
His reason refraineth not his foul delight or
talent. --Chaucer.
Refrain thy foot from their path. --Prov. i. 15.
2. To abstain from. [Obs.]
Who, requiring a remedy for his gout, received no
other counsel than to refrain cold drink. --Sir T.
Browne.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Refrain \Re*frain"\, verb (used without an object)
To keep one's self from action or interference; to hold
aloof; to forbear; to abstain.
Refrain from these men, and let them alone. --Acts v.
38.
They refrained therefrom [eating flesh] some time
after. --Sir T.
Browne.
Syn: To hold back; forbear; abstain; withhold.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Refrain \Re*frain"\, noun [F. refrain, fr. OF. refraindre; cf. Pr.
refranhs a refrain, refranher to repeat. See
{Refract},{Refrain}, v.]
The burden of a song; a phrase or verse which recurs at the
end of each of the separate stanzas or divisions of a poetic
composition.
We hear the wild refrain. --Whittier.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
188 Moby Thesaurus words for "refrain":
PS, Parthian shot, Spenserian stanza, abandon, abort, abstain,
abstain from, addendum, afterthought, air, anacrusis, antistrophe,
appendix, aria, arrest, avoid, back matter, bass passage, belay,
bis, bob, book, bourdon, bridge, burden, cadence, cancel, canto,
cantus, cease, chant, check, chorus, coda, codicil, colophon,
conclusion, consequence, constrain, continuance, continuation,
couplet, curb, cut it out, descant, desist, development,
discontinue, dispense with, distich, ditto, division, do without,
double take, drop it, dying words, end, envoi, epilogue, epode,
eschew, exposition, figure, folderol, follow-through, follow-up,
forbear, forgo, give over, give up, halt, harmonic close,
have done with, heptastich, hexastich, hold, hold aloof from,
hold back, hold off, inhibit, interlude, intermezzo, interrupt,
introductory phrase, keep, keep back, keep from, keep in hand,
knock it off, last words, lay, lay off, leave off, let alone,
let go by, line, measure, melodia, melodic line, melody, monostich,
movement, musical phrase, musical sentence, never touch, not touch,
not use, note, octastich, octave, octet, ornament, ottava rima,
part, parting shot, pass up, passage, pentastich, period,
peroration, phrase, postface, postfix, postlude, postscript,
quatrain, quit, refrain from, relinquish, renounce, repeat,
repetend, reprise, reserve, resolution, response, restrain,
rhyme royal, ritornello, save, scrub, second thought, section,
septet, sequel, sequela, sequelae, sequelant, sequent, sequitur,
sestet, sextet, shun, solo, solo part, song, soprano part, spare,
stand aloof from, stanza, statement, stave, stay, stop, strain,
strophe, subscript, suffix, supplement, swan song, syllable, tag,
tailpiece, tercet, terminate, terza rima, tetrastich, treble,
triplet, tristich, tune, tutti, tutti passage, undersong,
variation, verse, waive, withhold
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