abandon
Americanverb (used with object)
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abandons,
present (3rd person singular)
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abandoned,
past participle, past
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abandoning
present participle
-
to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.
The crew finally abandoned the sinking ship and boarded a lifeboat.
He abandoned his wife and children, leaving them in poverty.
- Antonyms:
- keep
-
to give up; withdraw from; discontinue.
She had to abandon the research project when the grant money dried up.
I’ve abandoned all hope of a stage career.
-
to give up the control of.
After a long struggle, they abandoned the city to the invading army.
- Antonyms:
- retain
-
to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control.
After the breakup, he fell apart and abandoned himself to grief.
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Law. to cast away, leave, or desert, as property or a child.
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Insurance. to relinquish (insured property) to the underwriter in case of partial loss, thus enabling the insured to claim a total loss.
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Obsolete. to banish.
noun
verb
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to forsake completely; desert; leave behind
to abandon a baby
drivers had to abandon their cars
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the order given to the crew of a ship that is about to sink to take to the lifeboats
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to give up completely
to abandon a habit
to abandon hope
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to yield control of or concern in; relinquish
to abandon office
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to give up (something begun) before completion
to abandon a job
the game was abandoned
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to surrender (oneself) to emotion without restraint
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to give (insured property that has suffered partial loss or damage) to the insurers in order that a claim for a total loss may be made
noun
Synonym Usage
See desert 2. Abandon, relinquish, renounce mean to give up all concern in something. Abandon means to give up or discontinue any further interest in something because of discouragement, weariness, distaste, or the like: to abandon one's efforts. Relinquish implies being or feeling compelled to give up something one would prefer to keep: to relinquish a long-cherished desire. Renounce implies making (and perhaps formally stating) a voluntary decision to give something up: to renounce worldly pleasures.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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abandonsimple
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abandonssimple
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have abandonedperfect
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has abandonedperfect
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am abandoningprogressive
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are abandoningprogressive
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is abandoningprogressive
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have been abandoningperfect progressive
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has been abandoningperfect progressive
Past
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abandonedsimple
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had abandonedperfect
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was abandoningprogressive
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were abandoningprogressive
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had been abandoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of abandon
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English verb abando(u)nen, from Middle French abandoner, from Old French (mettre) a bandon “(put) under (someone's) jurisdiction,” equivalent to a “at, to” (from Latin ad; see ad-) + bandon, from Germanic band (unrecorded); see bond 1; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
To abandon something is to give it up completely. If you’re in a cabin and a forest fire approaches, you’d better get in your car and abandon your cabin, or else be prepared to abandon your life. If you abandon something, you let it go, so when you describe someone as "acting with abandon," it means they have let go of restrictions or inhibitions. Maybe you like to dance with abandon in the privacy of your own room. But abandon could also mean people have abandoned their senses. To "drive with abandon," for example, means to drive recklessly.
Vocabulary lists containing abandon
Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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"The Perils of Indifference," Vocabulary from the speech
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"The Story of an Hour"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Such weather extremes may have caused queens to abandon their nests or die, reducing the initial spring queen bounty to a more modest population.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
"American forces directed the crews to abandon ship before the vessels were struck and rendered inoperable," US Central Command said in a statement, adding the strikes were "in response to Iran's most recent failed attacks".
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
“I didn’t want to abandon my city,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
But Alpine have stumbled since, until finally showing signs of a revival this season, following Renault's decision to abandon its F1 engine project and switch to Mercedes customer engines.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The ancestors were as much a part of the family as the children, and to abandon them would have been wicked beyond belief.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Even if Warsh’s Fed abandons that level of transparency, the minutes will still be useful for investors, according to Englander.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
He abandons Lily to social, financial and bodily ruin—an end that feels as inevitable as the downfall of Antigone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
"I will not be a minister who abandons yet another generation of Territory kids," Cahill said when the details of the review were announced.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
She abandons her academic and career ambitions, takes a job as a court interpreter, and marries Michael, an affable nurse who has little idea of her emotional burdens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
She abandons half-read novels on chairs and tables.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Bradford Council has previously said that the Crown Estate is aware of security concerns around the abandoned site, which has suffered from repeated trespass incidents.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
"We feel abandoned, and we believe this march is a way to express that, despite the passage of time, we have not normalized the violence and we want peace."
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
The country that had promised to fight for their freedoms swiftly abandoned them.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
The 105 surviving crew members abandoned the vessels and began a desperate attempt to reach safety, traveling along the west coast of King William Island, Nunavut, while hauling boats on sleds.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026
If the terrified parrot harbored any plans to continue its performance, they were now abandoned.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
In April 1917, the German submarine UC-30 was making its way through waters near Rømø after abandoning a mission to Ireland because of engine problems.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
Police were on Tuesday hunting for two thieves who escaped with two Renoir paintings from a museum in southern France, after abandoning two others in its garden as they fled, a mayor said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
Hundreds of dentist practices are abandoning NHS work as the service drifts towards a two-tier system, new analysis suggests.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
So far the BOJ has waited months between each rate increase since abandoning its negative policy rate in March 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
You’d have to be deep into the massive automotive clot to feel that abandoning your car was your only course of action.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
