leave
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
to go out of or away from, as a place.
to leave the house.
- Synonyms:
- relinquish, desert, forsake, abandon
- Antonyms:
- join
-
to depart from permanently; quit.
to leave a job.
- Synonyms:
- relinquish, desert, forsake, abandon
- Antonyms:
- join
-
to let remain or have remaining behind after going, disappearing, ceasing, etc..
I left my wallet home.
The wound left a scar.
-
to allow to remain in the same place, condition, etc..
Is there any coffee left?
-
to let stay or be as specified.
to leave a door unlocked.
-
to let (a person or animal) remain in a position to do something without interference.
We left him to his work.
-
to let (a thing) remain for action or decision.
We left the details to the lawyer.
-
to give in charge; deposit; entrust.
Leave the package with the receptionist.
I left my name and phone number.
-
to stop; cease; give up.
He left music to study law.
-
to disregard; neglect.
We will leave this for the moment and concentrate on the major problem.
-
to give for use after one's death or departure.
to leave all one's money to charity.
-
to have remaining after death.
He leaves a wife and three children.
-
to have as a remainder after subtraction.
2 from 4 leaves 2.
-
Nonstandard. let.
verb (used without object)
verb phrase
idioms
-
leave well enough alone. alone.
-
leave alone,
-
Also let alone to refrain from annoying or interfering with.
Those kids wouldn't leave the dog alone, and he eventually turned on them.
She finally shouted, “Leave me alone!” at the man who had been following her for several blocks.
-
to allow or cause (someone) to be left on their own: They left me all alone, and I couldn’t figure out how to get back home.
Leave him alone—he wants to rest.
They left me all alone, and I couldn’t figure out how to get back home.
-
noun
-
permission to do something.
to beg leave to go elsewhere.
- Synonyms:
- liberty
-
permission to be absent, as from work or military duty.
The firm offers a maternity leave as part of its benefit program.
-
the time this permission lasts.
30 days' leave.
-
a parting; departure; farewell.
He took his leave before the formal ceremonies began.
We took leave of them after dinner.
-
Metallurgy. draft.
-
Bowling. the pin or pins in upright position after the bowl of the first ball.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
(also intr) to go or depart (from a person or place)
-
to cause to remain behind, often by mistake, in a place
he often leaves his keys in his coat
-
to cause to be or remain in a specified state
paying the bill left him penniless
-
to renounce or abandon
to leave a political movement
-
to refrain from consuming or doing something
the things we have left undone
-
to result in; cause
childhood problems often leave emotional scars
-
to allow to be or remain subject to another person or thing
leave the past to look after itself
-
to entrust or commit
leave the shopping to her
-
to submit in place of one's personal appearance
will you leave your name and address?
-
to pass in a specified direction
flying out of the country, we left the cliffs on our left
-
to be survived by (members of one's family)
he leaves a wife and two children
-
to bequeath or devise
he left his investments to his children
-
(tr) to have as a remainder
37 – 14 leaves 23
-
not_standard to permit; let
-
informal to leave undisturbed
-
not_standard to stop holding
-
informal to take a matter no further
-
to be very unsatisfactory
-
-
Also: let alone. See let 1
-
to permit to stay or be alone
-
-
not to control or direct someone
noun
-
permission to do something
he was granted leave to speak
-
with your permission
-
permission to be absent, as from a place of work or duty
leave of absence
-
the duration of such absence
ten days' leave
-
a farewell or departure (esp in the phrase take ( one's ) leave )
-
officially excused from work or duty
-
to say farewell (to)
-
to go mad or become irrational
verb
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 let 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of leave1
First recorded before 900; Middle English leven “to stop, cease, discontinue; abandon; allow; depart, leave,” Old English lǣfan “to leave; remain; have or be left remaining”; cognate with Old High German leiban (compare German bleiben “to remain”), Old Norse leifa “to leave, leave behind, leave (food) as a leftover, bequeath, abandon,” Gothic bilaibjan “to leave, leave behind, forsake”; see also lave 2
Origin of leave2
First recorded before 900; Middle English leve, leave, leife “permission, permission to go, farewell,” Old English lēaf “permission, license”; akin to believe, furlough, lief
Origin of leave3
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English leven, lefie, derivative of lef “leaf”; see leaf
Explanation
To leave is to go away or exit. You can leave the country, the house, or a job. This has many meanings, most having to do with departing. Getting permission to take time off from work is taking a leave of absence. To not disturb something is to leave it alone. To abandon or forget something is to leave it behind. Giving someone leave to do something is giving them permission. Leaving can mean transmitting or passing on skills. Also, you can leave things to people in a will: you grandfather might leave you his favorite cufflinks.
Vocabulary lists containing leave
"Growing Together" and "When I Grow Up"
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Spelling Practice 2, Unit 5
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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:
Treasury is expected to boost its near-term borrowing projection when it releases its financing estimates next week but leave coupon auction sizes unchanged, Goldman Sachs analysts say in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Monday’s announcement appeared to leave investors uneasy as well, following hopes that the worst of the culture-war fallout from the logo change was in the rearview.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
Xabi Alonso's first match as Chelsea manager was defined by four strikers - an untouchable one, one that struggled again and could leave, a promising talent, and one that could join.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
"We can't reach our homes... We come here, breathe in the air of our village, then leave," he told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
I stay in my seat, too nervous to leave the car yet.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
He wants to be sure he makes the right decision because, unlike the last time he stepped away from F1 in 2018, there will be no coming back this time when he leaves.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
If a company leaves a supplier, do its data and workflow go with it?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
There is no version in which a double-digit week in crude leaves the index alone.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
But advocates for immigrants said the change leaves asylum seekers who tried to follow the law vulnerable to deportation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The smoke from the burger place blurs the leaves above me until a breeze rustles through, clearing the air and exposing a huge black sign with neon-green.and-yellow lettering over the trees.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Curly Leafed Collards: Those curly leaved varieties Smith mentions can make them look more like kale than the large, smooth leaves we typically think of with collards.
From Salon ● Jan. 27, 2023
“As soon as all the trees leaved out, I was like, ‘I’m staying forever,’” she said of spring’s recent start, singing those last few words in a soprano vibrato.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2022
Want to try out this delicately leaved vine?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2020
The etchings’ chief subject is nature’s bounty and mysteriousness, manifest in big, densely leaved trees and densely treed hillsides.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2013
For a moment I paused beneath a low, thickly leaved tree, looking down the well-kept doily-shadowed walks past the silent houses.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Alphabet’s Google endorsed the letter shortly after, leaving Anthropic as one of the only notable AI companies not to back it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
BBC Breakfast co-host Naga Munchetty is leaving the show after 17 years, and will swap the TV sofa for the presenter's chair on Radio 5 Live's breakfast show.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
In October 2026, a new wave of cuts to CalFresh will decrease the federal government’s contribution to CalFresh from 50% to 25%, leaving a larger portion of costs to states, counties and regional organizations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
A famous study showed that individuals often fail in this allocation problem, literally leaving free money on the table.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
It blew in great, roaring gusts, then abruptly died, leaving an empty space that echoed with the most disturbing sound: a far-off moaning, as if the woods were trying to tell Clare something.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Fields and forests have been left unmanaged, with shrubs and plants growing where livestock once grazed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Many young people have left rural communities to work in towns and cities, abandoning farmland that historically provided some of the best protection against fires.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
We cannot lose a manager and our main striker and expect to carry on from where last season left off.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
The New York Post reported that Beer was seen introducing Herbert to crew members and that the two left the set together.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
It is discovered that she left strict orders at Carville that her whereabouts be kept secret.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
