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# abstention

«abstention» in Mova's school dictionary: **when someone chooses not to vote, neither for nor against** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (an abstention, abstentions; uncountable for the habit)

### meaning for a pupil

1) An abstention is when someone chooses not to vote, neither for nor against. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/abstention/#m1)

2) (formal) Abstention is choosing not to do or have something you might want, like food or alcohol. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/abstention/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

Used in class elections and councils («ten for, five against, two abstentions»); in religion for fasting or giving things up in Lent.

### examples

- The vote was twelve for, eight against, with three abstentions. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/abstention/#x1)
- Ruby's abstention meant the result was a tie. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/abstention/#x2)
- Abstention from sweets during Lent was hard for Tom. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/abstention/#x3)
- The council counted the abstentions separately. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/abstention/#x4)
- There were no abstentions; everyone voted. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/abstention/#x5)
- In the class vote for the trip, there was one abstention. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/abstention/#x6)

### note

Verb: abstain (abstain from voting). In maths of votes: abstentions are counted but usually do not add to either side, so for + against + abstentions = everyone who was there.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «abstention» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/A/abstention/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.