leave

leave¹

—leaver, n.

/leev/, v., left, leaving.

v.t.

1. to go out of or away from, as a place: to leave the house.

2. to depart from permanently; quit: to leave a job.

3. to let remain or have remaining behind after going, disappearing, ceasing, etc.: I left my wallet home. The wound left a scar.

4. to allow to remain in the same place, condition, etc.: Is there any coffee left?

5. to let stay or be as specified: to leave a door unlocked.

6. to let (a person or animal) remain in a position to do something without interference: We left him to his work.

7. to let (a thing) remain for action or decision: We left the details to the lawyer.

8. to give in charge; deposit; entrust: Leave the package with the receptionist. I left my name and phone number.

9. to stop; cease; give up: He left music to study law.

10. to disregard; neglect: We will leave this for the moment and concentrate on the major problem.

11. to give for use after one's death or departure: to leave all one's money to charity.

12. to have remaining after death: He leaves a wife and three children.

13. to have as a remainder after subtraction: 2 from 4 leaves 2.

14. Nonstandard. let¹ (defs. 1, 2, 6).

v.i.

15. to go away, depart, or set out: We leave for Europe tomorrow.

16. leave alone. See alone (def. 4).

17. leave off,

a. to desist from; cease; stop; abandon.

b. to stop using or wearing: It had stopped raining, so we left off our coats.

c. to omit: to leave a name off a list.

18. leave out, to omit; exclude: She left out an important detail in her account.

[bef. 900; ME leven, OE laefan (causative formation from base of laf remainder; see LAVE²); c. OHG leiban (cf. G bleiben to remain), ON leifa, Goth -laibjan]

Syn. 1, 2. abandon, forsake, desert; relinquish. 9. forbear, renounce. 10. ignore, forget. 11. bequeath, will; devise, transmit.

Ant. 1, 2. join.

Usage. LEAVE is interchangeable with LET when followed by ALONE with the sense "to refrain from annoying or interfering with": Leave (or Let) her alone and she will solve the problem easily. When he was left (or let) alone without interruptions, the boy quickly assembled the apparatus. The use of LEAVE ALONE for LET ALONE in the sense "not to mention" is nonstandard: There wasn't any standing room, let (not leave) alone a seat, so I missed the performance.

Other substitutions of LEAVE for LET are generally regarded as nonstandard: Let (not Leave) us sit down and talk this over. Let (not Leave) her do it her own way. The police wouldn't let (not leave) us cross the barriers. See also let¹.

leave²

/leev/, n.

1. permission to do something: to beg leave to go elsewhere.

2. permission to be absent, as from work or military duty: The firm offers a maternity leave as part of its benefit program.

3. the time this permission lasts: 30 days' leave.

4. a parting; departure; farewell: He took his leave before the formal ceremonies began. We took leave of them after dinner.

5. Metall. draft (def. 23).

6. Bowling. the pin or pins in upright position after the bowl of the first ball.

[bef. 900; ME leve, OE leaf; akin to BELIEVE, FURLOUGH, LIEF]

Syn. 1-3. liberty. 2, 3. vacation, furlough.

leave³

/leev/, v.i., leaved, leaving.

to put forth leaves; leaf.

[1250-1300; ME leven, deriv. of lef LEAF]

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