(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.
Pledge
Definition:
(n.) The transfer of possession of personal property from a debtor to a creditor as security for a debt or engagement; also, the contract created between the debtor and creditor by a thing being so delivered or deposited, forming a species of bailment; also, that which is so delivered or deposited; something put in pawn.
(n.) A person who undertook, or became responsible, for another; a bail; a surety; a hostage.
(n.) A hypothecation without transfer of possession.
(n.) Anything given or considered as a security for the performance of an act; a guarantee; as, mutual interest is the best pledge for the performance of treaties.
(n.) A promise or agreement by which one binds one's self to do, or to refrain from doing, something; especially, a solemn promise in writing to refrain from using intoxicating liquors or the like; as, to sign the pledge; the mayor had made no pledges.
(n.) A sentiment to which assent is given by drinking one's health; a toast; a health.
(n.) To deposit, as a chattel, in pledge or pawn; to leave in possession of another as security; as, to pledge one's watch.
(n.) To give or pass as a security; to guarantee; to engage; to plight; as, to pledge one's word and honor.
(n.) To secure performance of, as by a pledge.
(n.) To bind or engage by promise or declaration; to engage solemnly; as, to pledge one's self.
(n.) To invite another to drink, by drinking of the cup first, and then handing it to him, as a pledge of good will; hence, to drink the health of; to toast.
Example Sentences:
(1) She was clearly elected on a pledge not to cut school funding and that’s exactly what is happening,” Corbyn said.
(2) The green fund contributions already announced (which include a $3bn pledge by the US and a $1.5bn pledge by Japan revealed during the G20 summit) “show very clearly that if we want the emerging countries and the more fragile countries to participate in this global growth, we have to ... support them,” Hollande said.
(3) Federal judges who blocked the bans cited harsh rhetoric employed by Trump on the campaign trail , specifically a pledge to ban all Muslims from entering the US and support for giving priority to Christian refugees, as being reflective of the intent behind his travel ban.
(4) Under pressure from many backbenchers, he has tightened planning controls on windfarms and pledged to "roll back" green subsidies on bills, leading to fears of dwindling support for the renewables industry.
(5) It also pledged support to a veterans’ group that rejected a request by a gay, lesbian and bisexual group to march in the St Patrick’s Day parade in Boston.
(6) We simply do whatever nature needs and will work with anyone that wants to help wildlife.” His views might come as a surprise to some of the RSPB’s 1.1 million members, who would have been persuaded by its original pledge “to discourage the wanton destruction of birds”; they would equally have been a surprise to the RSPB’s detractors in the shooting world.
(7) We are prepared to be honest with people and say that we will all need to chip in a little more.” The party’s health spokesman, Norman Lamb, said: “The NHS was once the envy of the world and this pledge is the first step in restoring it to where it should be.
(8) Royal Mail has pledged not to give Greene a large pay rise until after the current financial year, but the government's move follows Royal Mail chairman Donald Brydon telling the Daily Telegraph this week that Greene was the "lowest-paid chief executive in the FTSE 100" and that a rise in her pay was necessary to keep her.
(9) Well one of the things we have in common is we produce a lot of carbon … which means we’ve got to step up.” In the backrooms of the G20 meeting, Australia was continuing to resist language in the official communique encouraging countries to make pledges to the Green Climate Fund , but to a rousing reception at a local university, Obama announced the $3bn US commitment.
(10) Tim Farron has pledged to fight the next general election on a platform of taking the UK back into Europe .
(11) And when you said the pledge of allegiance in the morning, you had to look at those flags.
(12) But Sainsbury attacked government attempts to secure further pledges as a "total waste of time" given Pfizer's record of breaking promises in past takeovers.
(13) In a telling moment, 17 editors of both state and private newspapers collectively pledged in November to avoid criticising the state.
(14) Fenway, which also owns the Boston Red Sox baseball team, bought Liverpool for £300m in 2010 and pledged to return the club to the top of English football, following what was then a 20-year gap since the club last won the top flight.
(15) China INDC This would be “a key” to success of the UN climate talks, a French diplomatic official said, because the current national pledges won’t be enough to achieve the goal of keeping the rise in global temperatures below 2C between pre-industrial times and the end of the century.
(16) Climate change is also high on protesters’ and politicians’ agendas, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, called for the industrial powers to throw their weight behind a longstanding pledge to seek $100bn (£65bn) to help poor countries tackle climate change, agreed in Copenhagen in 2009.
(17) The party has also pledged to ensure that the wealthy make a greater contribution by restoring the 50p higher rate of income tax.
(18) Abbott's comments on Wednesday morning followed a pledge from Yudhoyono on Tuesday night to restore normal bilateral relations if Australia signed up to a new code of ethics on intelligence sharing.
(19) The media mogul said he had spoken "very carefully under oath" at the Leveson inquiry on Wednesday, when he had said that Brown had pledged to "declare war" on his company in a phone call made at around the time the Sun came out in support of the Conservative party, on 30 September of that year.
(20) "He has pledged to push for devolution of power to the north and east, and has said that the solution to the national question must have the agreement of all parties."