Definition of "refrain"

Refrain thy foot from their path.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Proverbs 1:15

The presence even for a moment among a party of debauchees of a woman endued with every quality of modesty and not less severe than beautiful refrained the humorous sallies even of the most licentious but her departure was the signal for an outbreak of ribaldry.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1: Telemachus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], part I [Telemachia], page 14

And nowe I saye unto you: refrayne youreselves from these men, and let them alone [...].

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], Acts ]

As I went down the river, all dissatisfaction at my lot passed away, and by the time Dartmouth came in view I could no longer refrain myself, but threw my cap into the air, and barely caught it from falling overboard as I shouted, "Hurrah for merry England! […] "

1899, Sabine Baring-Gould, A Book of the West, Volume 1 Chapter 18

Refrain from these men, and let them alone.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Acts 5:38

They refrained therefrom [eating flesh] some time after.

1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […]

If you knew how I struggle for a little health, what uneasiness I am at in riding and walking, and refraining from every thing agreeable to my taste

July 5, 1731, Jonathan Swift, letter to Vanessa

I will [...] tell you the story of what has happened to me, if you like, but you must refrain from interruptions.

1895 May 7, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Time Traveler Returns”, in The Time Machine: An Invention, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, page 36

Who, requiring a remedy for his gout, received no other counsel than to refrain cold drink.

1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […]

For perhaps as much as thirty seconds they kept it up. It was a refrain that was often heard in moments of overwhelming emotion. Partly it was a sort of hymn to the wisdom and majesty of Big Brother, but still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise.

1949, George Orwell, chapter 1, in Nineteen Eighty-Four