Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The act or habit of deliberate self-denial.
- n. An abstaining vote or voter: 12 ayes, 10 nays, and 8 abstentions.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A holding off or refraining; abstinence from action; neglect or refusal to do something.
Wiktionary
- n. Non-participation in the political world; as a country avoiding international affairs.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. The act of abstaining; a holding aloof.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the trait of abstaining (especially from alcohol)
Etymologies
- Late Latin abstentiō, abstentiōn-, from abstentus, past participle of Latin abstinēre, to hold back; see abstain. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“This moral abstention is nosing its way down our streets with insidious intent.”
“Mr. Zapatero, who runs a minority government, got the package through with the sole votes of his Socialist party and abstention from a Basque nationalist party that he is wooing furiously for support on his next challenge, which is much bigger: passing a budget for 2011.”
“We have a duty to find out if the abstention was a true reflection of her intention," he said.”
“Closely related to emotional restraint is the idea of abstention from greed, vice and other activities that distract the mind and disrupt the natural harmony of the Three Treasures.”
“Or, is it that course of duties, called abstention from acts, by which an extension of the Soul is to be sought?”
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 Books 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12
“But he did none of these things, and his abstention was the sign and measure of his coolness, of his sanity.”
“The reason for my abstention is a very simple one.”
“As it was, however, the idea of abstention seems never to have occurred to them.”
“This time around, both will be held at the same time in order to minimize abstention, which is always higher on the local level.”
“Rose's confidence in beating that mark should be absolute, since many institutional shareholders insist on expressing any unhappiness by ticking the box labelled "abstention" rather than voting against a resolution.”
The Guardian: Signs emerge of confidence slipping at checkouts
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘abstention’.
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EU Buzz - ALL words and expressions
A combined list of
1. EU Buzz - single words
2. EU Buzz - collocations
3. EU Buzz - the 100 most active
collocation constituentsabsorption capacity, absorption rate, acceding country, accession candidate, accession countries, accession country, accession criteria, accession cycle, accession negotia..., accession partner..., accession priorities, accession treaty and 2650 more...
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EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...health, follow, condition, meeting, minister, beginning, chapter, information, language, remain, covered, respect and 2614 more...
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EU Buzz - single words (1+2+3)
1. Strictly EU terms with special European meaning used only in the EU
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2. Keywords central to the understanding of the EU (people working for the EU are usually able to give thematic...acceleration, action, additionality, administrator, agenda, agricultural, agri-environmental, agriflation, agri-food, applicant, approach, assent and 1325 more...
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Parliamentary procedure
abstention, quorum, cloture, provisos, adjournment, motion, second, table, vote, take the floor, move a motion, draft a resolution and 15 more...
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parody's Words
defenestrate, behemoth, floss, macchiato, glom, emu, alpaca, crocheted, ampersand, charade, conflate, salacious and 193 more...
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Nullologue
nullologue, vaudeville, debauchery, debauched, libertine, nothing, dhadak, tz pf, nothingology, goodbyeology, sharmuta, manifesto and 866 more...
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