D defs.my
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Entry 14 senses · 5 variants Webster, 1913

Leave

/lēv/ · IPA /liːv/
01 v. i. To send out leaves; to leaf; -- often with out.
imp. & p. p. Leaved; p. pr. & vb. n. Leaving
  1. 1.
    To send out leaves; to leaf; -- often with out.
02 v. t. To raise; to levy.
  1. 1.
    To raise; to levy.[Obs.]
    “An army strong she leaved.” — Spenser.
03 n. Liberty granted by which restraint or illegality is removed; permission; allowance; license.
  1. 1.
    Liberty granted by which restraint or illegality is removed; permission; allowance; license.
    “David earnestly asked leave of me.” — 1 Sam. xx. 6.
    “No friend has leave to bear away the dead.” — Dryden.
  2. 2.
    The act of leaving or departing; a formal parting; a leaving; farewell; adieu; -- used chiefly in the phrase, to take leave, i. e., literally, to take permission to go.
    “A double blessing is a'double grace; Occasion smiles upon a second leave.” — Shak.
    “And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren.” — Acts xviii. 18.
Phrases & compounds
French leave — See under French.
Syn. See Liberty.
04 v. t. To withdraw one's self from; to go away from; to depart from; as, to leave the house.
imp. & p. p. Left; p. pr. & vb. n. Leaving
  1. 1.
    To withdraw one's self from; to go away from; to depart from; as, to leave the house.
    “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.” — Gen. ii. 24.
  2. 2.
    To let remain unremoved or undone; to let stay or continue, in distinction from what is removed or changed.
    “If grape gatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes ?” — Jer. xlix. 9.
    “These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” — Matt. xxiii. 23.
    “Besides it leaveth a suspicion, as if more might be said than is expressed.” — Bacon.
  3. 3.
    To cease from; to desist from; to abstain from.
    “Now leave complaining and begin your tea.” — Pope.
  4. 4.
    To desert; to abandon; to forsake; hence, to give up; to relinquish.
    “Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.” — Mark x. 28.
    “The heresies that men do leave.” — Shak.
  5. 5.
    To let be or do without interference; as, I left him to his reflections; I leave my hearers to judge.
    “I will leave you now to your gossiplike humor.” — Shak.
  6. 6.
    To put; to place; to deposit; to deliver; to commit; to submit -- with a sense of withdrawing one's self from; as, leave your hat in the hall; we left our cards; to leave the matter to arbitrators.
    “Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way.” — Matt. v. 24.
    “The foot That leaves the print of blood where'er it walks.” — Shak.
  7. 7.
    To have remaining at death; hence, to bequeath; as, he left a large estate; he left a good name; he left a legacy to his niece.
  8. 8.
    to cause to be; -- followed by an adjective or adverb describing a state or condition; as, the losses due to fire leave me penniless; The cost of defending himself left Bill Clinton with a mountain of lawyers' bills.
Phrases & compounds
To leave alone — To leave in solitude.
To leave off — To desist from; to forbear; to stop; as, to leave off work at six o'clock.
To leave out — to omit; as, to leave out a word or name in writing.
To leave to one's self — to let (one) be alone; to cease caring for (one).
Syn. To quit; depart from; forsake; abandon; relinquish; deliver; bequeath; give up; forego; resign; surrender; forbear. See Quit.
05 v. i. To depart; to set out.
  1. 1.
    To depart; to set out.[Colloq.]
    “By the time I left for Scotland.” — Carlyle.
  2. 2.
    To cease; to desist; to leave off.
    “Leave off, and for another summons wait.” — Roscommon.
Phrases & compounds
To leave off — to cease; to desist; to stop.