What's the difference between abdicate and abstain?

Abdicate


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To surrender or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity; as, to abdicate the throne, the crown, the papacy.
  • (v. t.) To renounce; to relinquish; -- said of authority, a trust, duty, right, etc.
  • (v. t.) To reject; to cast off.
  • (v. t.) To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit.
  • (v. i.) To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The phrase "Defender of the Faith," which is usually included in the King's titles, appears neither in the instrument of abdication nor in the bill.
  • (2) The UK and Russia invade Iran and jointly occupy the country, forcing King Reza Shah to abdicate.
  • (3) If so, he would have to abdicate – as Baudouin of Belgium did for a day rather than ratify abortion .
  • (4) Saudis speculate quietly that King Salman may eventually abdicate in favour of his son and bypass Bin Nayef, who has no sons of his own.
  • (5) They solve it, correctly, by making him abdicate, with a bit of help from Prince William’s wife, Kate.
  • (6) If members of other parties feel their input is vital, they can start by contributing to the debate and ensuring they are behind the government's efforts without abdicating their constitutional role as opposition.
  • (7) The psychopathological risk is the "burning out" of the subject, and the defences developed against it, such as humour (casualness), aloofness (abdication), deviance and drug-dependence.
  • (8) Balls, Labour's shadow treasury spokesman, warned that the UK government's hands-off stance on Europe meant one of the top three economies in the EU was in effect abdicating responsibility for resolving a crisis that could engulf the British economy.
  • (9) When blatant falsehoods are presented as truth on critical questions - by a film that touts itself as a journalistic presentation of actual events - insisting on apolitical appreciation of this "art" is indeed a reckless abdication.
  • (10) After the ceremony on Thursday, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia will tour central Madrid in a motor cavalcade – a somewhat risky venture given the strength of republican sentiment that has emerged since the abdication was announced.
  • (11) That narrative is appealing because it allows us to abdicate our collective responsibility for a society – and an underlying set of public policies – that accepts and even ensures that a portion of our society will live on the streets, that some of us will be addicted to drugs, and that some of us will just have to deal with grinding poverty – and the traumas that often follow from it.
  • (12) Three patients did not respond to NOVP: two of these did not respond to MOPP or ABDIC, and two are currently without relapse following bone marrow transplant.
  • (13) His royal imperial highness has abdicated and the constitution is in abeyance.
  • (14) While the king's approval rating dropped steadily, that of his son Felipe remained stable at around 66%, leading many to suggest that the monarchy would be better off if the king abdicated.
  • (15) Doxorubicin-containing regimens, such as ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) and ABDIC (doxorubicin, bleomycin, dacarbazine, lomustine, prednisone), have been second-line treatments that have significant antitumor effect and, as such, have resulted in few, if any, long-term cures in most series.
  • (16) The palace recently took the unusual step of denying the abdication rumours.
  • (17) There is therefore no reason why the monarch should abdicate.
  • (18) Rajoy's government must now pass a law creating a legal mechanism for Felipe's assumption of power, which will then allow Juan Carlos to set a date for his formal abdication.
  • (19) So are we then being hoodwinked into thinking if we take this pill, we can abdicate responsibility for all our health needs because we've taken a pill?"
  • (20) Brexit would free UK from 'spirit-crushing' green directives, says minister Read more “Once you abdicate responsibility for something like the environment to the EU, there is a danger that it infantilises the government machine at all levels and people just sit and wait to be told what to do,” Eustice said.

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.