How to Use abstain in a Sentence

abstain

verb

• Ten members voted for the proposal, six members voted against it, and two abstained.
• One member abstained and two others recused themselves; three members did not abstain.
  — New York Times, 29 Jan. 2021
• Fasting involves freely abstaining from food and/or drinks for set periods.
  — Anna Giorgi, Verywell Health, 13 Sep. 2024
• Therefore, a member would not legally have to abstain from a vote that deals with a city government unit under their control.
  — Tim Prudente, baltimoresun.com, 13 Mar. 2021
• Followers during Ramadan abstain from food, water, any vices and sometimes medicine between sunrise to sunset.
  — oregonlive, 13 Apr. 2021
• That means hourly pay would no longer be subject each year to the whims of conservative lawmakers, many of whom abstain for drinking alcohol for religious reasons.
  — Kathy Stephenson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 5 Mar. 2021
• India has also abstained from all resolutions on Ukraine at the United Nations.
  — Aishwarya S Iyer, CNN, 19 Aug. 2024
• Throughout the week, observant Jews abstain from the consumption of bread and other leavened foods to commemorate the hardships of the flight from Egypt.
  — Ilan Ben Zion, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Mar. 2021
• Those bottlenecks are running up against Lent, when many Christians abstain from meat and Americans eat more seafood than during any other time of year, retail data show.
  — Heather Haddon, WSJ, 25 Feb. 2021
• Of the 20 clubs, 14 agreed to the change, five voted against and one abstained.
  — The Associated Press, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2017
• Medvedev agreed to abstain and, a few hours later, the vote passed.
  — Kim Ghattas, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2022
• More than a dozen House members abstained from the vote.
  — CBS News, 30 May 2023
• Li got 2,936 votes, with three votes cast against him and eight abstained.
  — Laura He, CNN, 10 Mar. 2023
• Burnley chose to abstain, whilst the remaining 14 were in favour of the change.
  — SI.com, 26 Aug. 2019
• The most effective way to avoid any risks of cannabis use is to abstain from use.
  — James Hamblin, The Atlantic, 18 Aug. 2017
• As a result, the King abstains from elections to this day.
  — Anna Gordon, TIME, 24 May 2024
• The Netherlands hasn’t let go of the issue but agreed to abstain from the vote, allowing the plan to get the go-ahead.
  — Robert Goulder, Forbes, 5 July 2022
• But who will manage to abstain from hooking up, and who will break the rules in record time?
  — Amy MacKelden, ELLE, 8 Dec. 2022
• Two members abstained from the vote and three were absent.
  — Allison Kite, kansascity, 14 May 2018
• Many of these voters will abstain in the May 7 second round, polls show.
  — Helene Fouquet, Bloomberg.com, 28 Apr. 2017
• The judge ordered Wright to abstain from any substance abuse.
  — Jason Meisner, chicagotribune.com, 9 Dec. 2020
• The proposals passed with a total of 647 votes for and eight against, with five votes to abstain.
  — Jonathan M. Pitts, baltimoresun.com, 13 June 2019
• If the chief justice abstained from breaking a tie, the motion would fail.
  — Nicholas Fandos, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2020
• Scott Bailey was the lone board member to abstain from the final vote on the agreement.
  — oregonlive.com, 26 June 2019
• Forty-five members abstained, and the rest were absent.
  — New York Times, 13 June 2018
• Nine voted against, 35 abstained and 21 did not cast a vote.
  — NBC News, 23 Feb. 2018
• As for now, the designer mama hopes that the haters will abstain from her page.
  — Kelly Corbett, House Beautiful, 16 Dec. 2020
• New York had to abstain from the vote due to the fact that the state assembly hadn't yet given their approval.
  — Alex Aronson, Popular Mechanics, 21 June 2019
• Adi abstained from the vote, and the three other members voted in favor of the motion.
  — The Enquirer, 20 Mar. 2024
• Most club members abstained from the vote, but six voted with Baraka, enough to kill the club’s chances for now.
  — Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 May 2023

Last Updated: 11 Nov 2024