All 5 Uses of
refrain
in
The Idiot
- Did not you intend to say, 'Surely you are not Prince Muishkin?' just now, but refrained out of politeness?†
Chpt 1.2 *refrained = avoided or resisted (doing something)
- He sorrowfully asked himself whether he had been the cause of this new "monstrosity," or was it...but he refrained from saying who else might be in fault.†
Chpt 2.11
- The prince was haunted all that day by the face of Lebedeff's nephew whom he had seen for the first time that morning, just as one is haunted at times by some persistent musical refrain.†
Chpt 2.5
- But I can't help knowing that after twenty-four years of illness there must be some trace left, so that it is impossible for people to refrain from laughing at me sometimes; don't you think so?†
Chpt 3.2
- The eternal refrain!†
Chpt 3.5
Definitions:
-
(1)
(refrain as in: a repeated refrain) something repeated regularlyespecially:
- lines repeated after each verse of a song
- a phrase or idea often repeated by someone or within a poem
-
(2)
(refrain as in: refrain from laughing) avoid or resist doing something