Definition of "abnegate" []

• To give up (rights or a claim, for example); renounce. (verb-transitive)
• To deny (something) to oneself: The minister abnegated the luxuries of life. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "As we call on science to explain, elaborate, and justify issues in civil and personal life, we need to be careful that we don't abnegate our responsibility to monitor the effects of this intervention."
• "He was instead enthusiastic about the opportunity to obey and self-abnegate by using it."
• "McCain's "preparation" is the pathetic track record of a moral coward, who will abnegate even the defense of his own dignity to achieve power."