What's the difference between abandon and abstain?

Abandon


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To cast or drive out; to banish; to expel; to reject.
  • (v. t.) To give up absolutely; to forsake entirely ; to renounce utterly; to relinquish all connection with or concern on; to desert, as a person to whom one owes allegiance or fidelity; to quit; to surrender.
  • (v. t.) Reflexively: To give (one's self) up without attempt at self-control; to yield (one's self) unrestrainedly; -- often in a bad sense.
  • (v. t.) To relinquish all claim to; -- used when an insured person gives up to underwriters all claim to the property covered by a policy, which may remain after loss or damage by a peril insured against.
  • (v.) Abandonment; relinquishment.
  • (n.) A complete giving up to natural impulses; freedom from artificial constraint; careless freedom or ease.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Martin O’Neill spoke of his satisfaction at the Republic of Ireland’s score draw in the first leg of their Euro 2016 play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina – and of his relief that the match was not abandoned despite the dense fog that descended in the second half and threatened to turn the game into a farce.
  • (2) It is a tragedy that he abandoned Iraq, sacrificing the gains secured by American blood and treasure.
  • (3) Nevertheless the difference was too little to suggest abandoning one treatment in favour of the others.
  • (4) Histological examination showed that in many cases these terminal sprouts appeared to reinnervate abandoned junctional sites on adjacent denervated fibers.
  • (5) The company abandoned plans to build a second savoury factory in the East Midlands, as well as its Greggs Moment coffee shops which it had been trialling since 2011.
  • (6) All the flies were collected from a breeding site inside an abandoned cement building.
  • (7) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Columnist Jonathan Freedland and economics editor Larry Elliott discuss the late-night deal that the Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has agreed to When it comes to the now-abandoned Thessaloniki Programme, the radical manifesto on which Alexis Tsipras came to power, there is always talk of implementing it “from below”: that is, demanding so many workers’ rights inside the industries designated for privatisation that it becomes impossible; or implementing the minimum wage through wildcat strikes.
  • (8) Reading these latest statistics, it’s crucial that our generation – millennials, Gen Y, whatever we want to call ourselves – abandons this preposterous narrative.
  • (9) It will be only a matter of time before the body-count begins.” Jeremy Hunt says five-day doctors' strike will be 'worst in NHS history' Read more The BMA says it will call off the strikes if the government abandons imposing a tougher new contract in October, but the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt , was in a no-turning-back mood on the BBC’s Today programme this morning.
  • (10) But he criticised Clegg for forcing the government to abandon the data communications bill.
  • (11) The Iraqi prime minister has fired several senior security force commanders over the defeats in the face of Isis and on Wednesday announced that 59 military officers would be prosecuted for abandoning the city of Mosul.
  • (12) Speaking for the first time since the Qatari royal family abandoned his plans to build 552 new homes on the site of ­Chelsea barracks, Rogers called for a national inquiry into whether the prince has a constitutional right to become involved in matters such as planning applications which have economic, political and social ramifications.
  • (13) That’s why when I heard from a family of 11 from my Walthamstow constituency whose holiday to LA had had to be abandoned, my first thought was for their kids.
  • (14) North Wiltshire MP James Gray said he was "very glad" Islam4UK had abandoned its march, which he said had been shown to be a "media stunt".
  • (15) It is better to abandon the idea of a plasty when the tubal mucosa is in a bad condition.
  • (16) The Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson, has abandoned plans to call for lower Scottish tax rates after learning that George Osborne is considering far deeper spending cuts.
  • (17) Families like these are being abandoned to their fate and, as Steve Hynes of the Legal Action Group says: "These are often truly desperate people."
  • (18) We must abandon the opinion that the prestige of a surgical department rests in the number of beds.
  • (19) In addition, the first patient was given a peroral prophylaxis with dantrolene; in subsequent cases this route of administration was abandoned.
  • (20) MPs have voted to abandon the controversial badger cull in England entirely, inflicting an embarrassing defeat on ministers who had already been forced to postpone the start of the killing until next summer.

Abstain


Definition:

  • (v. i.) To hold one's self aloof; to forbear or refrain voluntarily, and especially from an indulgence of the passions or appetites; -- with from.
  • (v. t.) To hinder; to withhold.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Also critical to Mr Smith's victory was the decision over lunch of the MSF technical union's delegation to abstain on the rule changes.
  • (2) Abstainer rates in the total population controlled for treatment decreased with increasing WPY (P less than 0.005).
  • (3) The adjusted odds ratio of having one or more hospitalization for current drinkers relative to life-long abstainers in females was 0.67 (95 per cent confidence interval 0.57-0.79) and in males was 0.74 (0.57-0.96).
  • (4) Britain and France formally announced this week they would abstain, along with Portugal and Bosnia.
  • (5) Although close to 50% of this sample were abstainers, 11% of the drinkers were found to be heavy drinkers, averaging more than two drinks daily, while 18% were high-maximum drinkers, consuming at least five drinks on an occasion prior to pregnancy.
  • (6) Compared to abstainers, the heaviest drinkers had the highest systolic (JM, p = 0.001; WM, p less than 0.01) and diastolic (JM, p less than 0.002; WM, p less than 0.05) blood pressures.
  • (7) The Labour leadership is understood to be pressing for its MPs to abstain on the grounds that the party’s policy is under review and the real vote on Trident will come in the decisive “main gate” decision on renewal next year.
  • (8) But the prime minister failed to win the support of more than half of his 303 MPs after 136 Tories rejected the measure and around 40 Tory MPs either did not vote or actively abstained.
  • (9) 36% of the group had abstained from further drug taking, 27% were taking them periodically, 32% had to be treated again and 5% had deteriorated (trend towards invalidism).
  • (10) Their occurrence rules out any organic involvement almost with certainty, and allows abstaining from additional examinations, or keeping them within minimum limits.
  • (11) They all abstain from social media for fear of getting embroiled in some brouhaha.
  • (12) Heidi Allen, the Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, abstained in last week’s vote but said she and others would defy the party whip if concessions were not offered.
  • (13) Fourteen months later, 41 subjects (41%) were classified as resumers; 62 (59%) were abstainers.
  • (14) This finding indicates that many young people exaggerate the risk of losing status among their peers because they abstain from drinking.
  • (15) At their explosive 80-minute meeting, the union's delegates - who hold 4.5 per cent of the vote - voted by 19-17 to abstain because the OMOV rule change included a further measure promoting more women MPs, one of the union's longstanding causes.
  • (16) All subjects had been instructed to abstain from smoking for at least 10 h before and during the examination.
  • (17) The CDC and other health agencies have been operating for months on the assumption that Zika causes brain defects, and they have been warning pregnant women to use mosquito repellent, avoid travel to Zika-stricken regions and either abstain from sex or rely on condoms.
  • (18) On same-sex marriage, Leadsom said she supported partnerships between gay couples but had reservations about the legislation that led her to abstain during the parliamentary vote.
  • (19) The salivary cotinine concentration after 1 week in 60 abstainers was 183 ng.ml-1.
  • (20) Never smoking abstainers die at about the same rate as never smoking moderate drinkers.