[əbˈsteɪn], (Verb)

Definitions:
- restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something
(e.g: the terms stipulate that he must abstain from consumption of alcohol and controlled substances)

- formally decline to vote either for or against a proposal or motion
(e.g: forty-one voted with the Opposition, and some sixty more abstained)


Phrases:

Origin:
late Middle English: from Old French abstenir, from Latin abstinere, from ab- ‘from’ + tenere ‘hold’