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Webster's New World College Dictionary » abstainer
abstainer
Variant of abstain
abstain
definition
ab·stain (ab stān′, əb-)
intransitive verb
to hold oneself back; voluntarily do without; refrain (from) to abstain from smoking
Etymology: ME absteinen < OFr abstenir < L abstinere, to hold back < ab(s)-, from + tenere, to hold: see tenant
Related Forms:
- abstainer ab·stain′er noun
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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