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r from a distance, but within view, or at a small distance; apart; away. Our palace stood aloof from streets. Dryden.

State of being aloof. Rogers (1642). The . . . aloofness of his dim forest life. Thoreau.

A standing aloof. [Obs.]

To hold one's self aloof; to forbear or refrain voluntarily, and especially from an indulgence of the passions or appetites; -- with from. Not a few abstained from voting. Macaulay. Who abstains from meat that is not gaunt Shak.

The act of abstaining; a holding aloof. Jer. Taylor.

to one's self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime. With a crafty madness keeps aloof, When we would bring him on to some confession Of his true state. Shak.

the observer. It is the complement of the altitude. -- To keep one's distance, to stand aloof; to refrain from familiarity. If a man makes keep my distance, the comfort is he keeps his at the same time. Swift.

To keep one's self from action or interference; to hold aloof; to forbear; to abstain. Refrain from these men, and let them alone. Acts v. 38. They refrained therefrom [eating flesh] some time after. Sir T. Browne.

To go back or return; to draw back or away; to keep aloof; to withdraw or retreat, as from observation; to go into privacy; as, to retire to his home; to retire from the world, or from notice. To Una back he cast him to retire. Spenser. The mind contracts herself, and shrinketh in, And to herself she gladly doth retire…