vt to abstain from.
2. refrain ·vi to keep one's self from action or interference; to hold aloof; to forbear; to abstain.
3. refrain ·v the burden of a song; a phrase or verse which recurs at the end of each of the separate stanzas or divisions of a poetic composition.
4. refrain ·vt to hold back; to restrain; to keep within prescribed bounds; to curb; to govern.