refrain: Meaning and Definition of

re•frain

Pronunciation: (ri-frān'), [key]
— v.i.
  1. to abstain from an impulse to say or do something (often fol. by from): I refrained from telling him what I thought.
—v.t.
  1. to curb.

re•frain

Pronunciation: (ri-frān'), [key]
— n.
  1. a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a song or poem, esp. at the end of each stanza; chorus.
    1. a musical setting for the refrain of a poem.
    2. any melody.
    3. the principal, recurrent section of a rondo.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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