abstaining

present participle of abstain

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abstaining
Verb
  • The documents included disciplinary information and reportedly showed that Sherrill was barred from walking at her 1994 graduation after refusing to inform on classmates involved in a cheating scandal.
    Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The violations include student-athletes betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of sports betting, manipulating scoring or outcomes and/or refusing to participate in the investigation.
    Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Others noted the couple who set the no-children boundary shouldn't feel guilty whatsoever for rejecting a guest's request for an exception.
    Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Indeed, throughout the world there’s a growing realization that the way to prosperity for all nations is rejecting protectionist legislation and promoting fair and free competition.
    James Bickerton, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Skarsgård has returned to play Pennywise, a villain that King fans agreed the actor embodied to perfection, after initially turning down the chance to continue the character.
    James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2025
  • But a chat message from Washington to a colleague, released to KUOW and ProPublica last week through a public records request, spells out additional reasons for turning down Daugaard’s proposal.
    Ashley Hiruko, ProPublica, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Because life—even for us jaded adults—should be for the seizing, not for hesitating in the face of fear.
    Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 9 Oct. 2025
  • Meyers acted his dang butt off in this sketch, and the audience paid him back with unsure and hesitating titters — not crickets, but not enthusiasm either.
    Bethy Squires, Vulture, 3 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Whether or not to cut back coneflowers is ultimately based on preference, but there are some advantages to delaying the process.
    Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 24 Oct. 2025
  • But SpaceX is not remotely ready to deliver, with serial failures of its mammoth Starship rocket delaying development of the lander.
    Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Contract options exercised for 4 The club exercised contract options on Stephen Afrifa, Zorhan Bassong, Jansen Miller and John Pulskamp, while declining options for Tim Leibold, Nemanja Radoja, Ryan Schewe, Shelton and Mason Toye.
    Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2025
  • However, her cousin the followed up, and the OP wrote back declining the invite.
    Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Abstaining.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abstaining. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.

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