How to Use abstention in a Sentence

abstention

noun
Definition of abstentionnext
Synonyms for abstentionnext
  • There were 10 ayes, 6 nays, and 2 abstentions when the vote was taken.
  • But many voters also preferred to stay away, with the abstention rate at 28 percent.
    — Jeremy Wallace, Houston Chronicle, 9 Apr. 2018
  • Aldermen vote 12-2 in favor of the ban, with one abstention.
    — Ashley Luthern, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 27 Mar. 2018
  • After the issue was put to a vote, the result was 8 countries in favor, 4 against and 3 abstentions.
    — Fox News, 19 Mar. 2018
  • The 10-member board voted five votes to four, with one abstention, in favor of bringing the soccer team to the West End.
    — Cameron Knight, Cincinnati.com, 20 Mar. 2018
  • Vote counts show that a plebiscite on the question passed overwhelmingly on Sunday, winning about 95 percent of the vote, though abstention was high.
    — Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2018
  • In a first attempt to remove the 79-year-old in December, the votes fell short on the back of abstentions and a split between different factions of the opposition.
    — John Quigley, Bloomberg.com, 21 Mar. 2018
  • The House passed the bill by a vote of 88-9 with three abstentions.
    — Mike Cason | McAson@al.com, al, 26 Jan. 2023
  • The school board voted to approve the plan 8 to 3, with one abstention.
    — Hannah Natanson, Washington Post, 23 Sep. 2020
  • The vote to finance that project was 12-4, with one abstention.
    — Tom Daykin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2020
  • The abstention was a sign of the growing rift between the two allies.
    — Suzanne Nuyen, NPR, 26 Mar. 2024
  • The board deadlocked 4-4 on the issue, with one abstention.
    — Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2022
  • Partly because of worries about the virus, the abstention rate, at 58%, was a record high.
    — The Economist, 4 July 2020
  • The bill, which needed four votes to pass, received three yeses, two nos and two abstentions.
    — Carolyn Said, SFChronicle.com, 21 June 2018
  • The vote on the measure to keep fighting for the current alignment failed 11-6, with one abstention.
    — Janet Moore, Star Tribune, 13 Aug. 2020
  • The vote was 10 in favor, four opposed and one abstention.
    — Maggie Fox, CNN, 23 Apr. 2021
  • The vote was 10 to 4, with one abstention for a conflict of interest.
    — NBC News, 24 Apr. 2021
  • The plan received 29 yes votes, with 18 opposed and one abstention.
    — Jim Paulsen, Star Tribune, 11 May 2021
  • The 17-0 vote, with one abstention, will now go to the FDA, which is expected to make a final ruling in the coming days.
    — NBC News, 26 Oct. 2021
  • Syria and Belarus were among the seven states to vote against the motion; there were 32 abstentions.
    — Patrick Smith, NBC News, 24 Feb. 2023
  • The ordinance failed by a vote of six in favor and seven against, with one abstention.
    — Tom Sissom, Arkansas Online, 16 June 2023
  • The vote on the six-member body, which is split evenly by party, was four in favor and one against, with one abstention.
    — Isaac Stanley-Becker, Anchorage Daily News, 11 Aug. 2022
  • The May 23 vote, which also called upon the mayor to resign, passed 4-0 with one abstention.
    — Dave Lieber, Dallas News, 7 June 2023
  • The council voted in favor of the motion, 7-0 with one abstention.
    — Steve Smith, Hartford Courant, 8 Feb. 2023
  • The final tally was 44 to 40 for Beijing, with one abstention.
    — New York Times, 22 Jan. 2022
  • On Tuesday, Cano didn’t give a reason for his abstention.
    — Gustavo Solis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Aug. 2020
  • The plan commission's vote of approval was 5-1 with one abstention.
    — Linda Girardi, Aurora Beacon-News, 25 May 2018
  • The vote passed 6-1, with one abstention, not to support the A’s proposal in its entirety but to support the A’s proposal as tweaked by the city.
    — John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle, 20 July 2021
  • The vote among athletic directors was 9-1 with one abstention.
    — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Mar. 2024
  • The board voted 4-0 in favor of terminating the contract, with one abstention from Council President Nick Mosby.
    — Emily Opilo, Baltimore Sun, 3 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'abstention.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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