The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Refrain \Re*frain"\, v. i.
   To keep one's self from action or interference; to hold
   aloof; to forbear; to abstain.
   [1913 Webster]

         Refrain from these men, and let them alone. --Acts v.
                                                  38.
   [1913 Webster]

         They refrained therefrom [eating flesh] some time
         after.                                   --Sir T.
                                                  Browne.
   [1913 Webster]

   Syn: To hold back; forbear; abstain; withhold.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Refrain \Re*frain"\ (r[-e]*fr[=a]n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
   Refrained (-fr[=a]nd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Refraining.] [OE.
   refreinen, OF. refrener, F. refr['e]ner, fr. L. refrenare;
   influenced by OF. refraindre to restrain, moderate, fr. LL.
   refrangere, for L. refringere to break up, break (see
   Refract). L. refrenare is fr. pref. re- back + frenum
   bridle; cf. Skr. dh[.r] to hold.]
   1. To hold back; to restrain; to keep within prescribed
      bounds; to curb; to govern.
      [1913 Webster]

            His reason refraineth not his foul delight or
            talent.                               --Chaucer.
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            Refrain thy foot from their path.     --Prov. i. 15.
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   2. To abstain from. [Obs.]
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            Who, requiring a remedy for his gout, received no
            other counsel than to refrain cold drink. --Sir T.
                                                  Browne.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Refrain \Re*frain"\, n. [F. refrain, fr. OF. refraindre; cf. Pr.
   refranhs a refrain, refranher to repeat. See
   Refract,Refrain, v.]
   The burden of a song; a phrase or verse which recurs at the
   end of each of the separate stanzas or divisions of a poetic
   composition.
   [1913 Webster]

         We hear the wild refrain.                --Whittier.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

refrain
    n 1: the part of a song where a soloist is joined by a group of
         singers [syn: refrain, chorus]
    v 1: resist doing something; "He refrained from hitting him
         back"; "she could not forbear weeping" [syn: refrain,
         forbear] [ant: act, move]
    2: choose not to consume; "I abstain from alcohol" [syn:
       abstain, refrain, desist] [ant: consume, have,
       ingest, take, take in]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

188 Moby Thesaurus words for "refrain":
   PS, Parthian shot, Spenserian stanza, abandon, abort, abstain,
   abstain from, addendum, afterthought, air, anacrusis, antistrophe,
   appendix, aria, arrest, avoid, back matter, bass passage, belay,
   bis, bob, book, bourdon, bridge, burden, cadence, cancel, canto,
   cantus, cease, chant, check, chorus, coda, codicil, colophon,
   conclusion, consequence, constrain, continuance, continuation,
   couplet, curb, cut it out, descant, desist, development,
   discontinue, dispense with, distich, ditto, division, do without,
   double take, drop it, dying words, end, envoi, epilogue, epode,
   eschew, exposition, figure, folderol, follow-through, follow-up,
   forbear, forgo, give over, give up, halt, harmonic close,
   have done with, heptastich, hexastich, hold, hold aloof from,
   hold back, hold off, inhibit, interlude, intermezzo, interrupt,
   introductory phrase, keep, keep back, keep from, keep in hand,
   knock it off, last words, lay, lay off, leave off, let alone,
   let go by, line, measure, melodia, melodic line, melody, monostich,
   movement, musical phrase, musical sentence, never touch, not touch,
   not use, note, octastich, octave, octet, ornament, ottava rima,
   part, parting shot, pass up, passage, pentastich, period,
   peroration, phrase, postface, postfix, postlude, postscript,
   quatrain, quit, refrain from, relinquish, renounce, repeat,
   repetend, reprise, reserve, resolution, response, restrain,
   rhyme royal, ritornello, save, scrub, second thought, section,
   septet, sequel, sequela, sequelae, sequelant, sequent, sequitur,
   sestet, sextet, shun, solo, solo part, song, soprano part, spare,
   stand aloof from, stanza, statement, stave, stay, stop, strain,
   strophe, subscript, suffix, supplement, swan song, syllable, tag,
   tailpiece, tercet, terminate, terza rima, tetrastich, treble,
   triplet, tristich, tune, tutti, tutti passage, undersong,
   variation, verse, waive, withhold