DEFINITIONS
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refrain

1
[ ri-freyn ]
/ rɪˈfreɪn /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR refrain ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to abstain from an impulse to say or do something (often followed by from): I refrained from telling him what I thought.

verb (used with object)

Archaic. to curb.

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Words related to refrain

abstain, halt, renounce, avoid, forgo, resist, desist, cease, restrain, curb, forbear, quit, inhibit, pass, stop, withhold, arrest, eschew, interrupt, keep

Words nearby refrain

refractory, refractory anemia, refractory period, refractory state, refracture, refrain, reframe, refrangible, refreeze, refresco, refresh

Origin of refrain

1
1300–50; Middle English refreinen < Old French refrener < Latin refrēnāre to bridle, equivalent to re- re- + frēn(um) bridle + -āre infinitive suffix

OTHER WORDS FROM refrain

re·frain·er, nounre·frain·ment, nounun·re·frained, adjectiveun·re·frain·ing, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH refrain

refrain restrain
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for refrained

British Dictionary definitions for refrained (1 of 2)

refrain1
/ (rɪˈfreɪn) /

verb

(intr usually foll by from) to abstain (from action); forbear

Derived forms of refrain

refrainer, nounrefrainment, noun

Word Origin for refrain

C14: from Latin refrēnāre to check with a bridle, from re- + frēnum a bridle

British Dictionary definitions for refrained (2 of 2)

refrain2
/ (rɪˈfreɪn) /

noun

a regularly recurring melody, such as the chorus of a song
a much repeated saying or idea

Word Origin for refrain

C14: via Old French, ultimately from Latin refringere to break into pieces
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for refrained

refrain

In some pieces of verse, a set of words repeated at the end of each stanza.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.