What does "leave" mean?
Leave: Liberty granted by which restraint or illegality is removed; permission; allowance; license. David earnestly asked leave of me. 1 Sam. xx.
Additional senses
- 2.No friend has leave to bear away the dead. Dryden.
- 3.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.
- 4.French leave. See under French.
- 5.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.
- 6.2. 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.
- 7.These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Matt. xxiii.
- 8.Besides it leaveth a suspicion, as if more might be said than is expressed. Bacon.
- 9.To cease from; to desist from; to abstain from. Now leave complaining and begin your tea. Pope.
- 10.To desert; to abandon; to forsake; hence, to give up; to relinquish. Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. Mark x.
- 11.The heresies that men do leave. Shak.
- 12.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.
- 13.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.
- 14.The foot That leaves the print of blood where'er it walks. Shak.
- 15.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. To leave alone. (a) To leave in solitude. (b) To desist or refrain from having to do with; as, to leave dangerous chemicals alone. -- To leave off. (a) To desist from; to forbear; to stop; as, to leave off work at six o'clock. (b) To cease wearing or using; to omit to put in the usual position; as, to leave off a garment; to leave off the tablecloth. (c) To forsake; as, to leave off a bad habit. -- 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.
- 16.To depart; to set out. [Colloq.] By the time I left for Scotland. Carlyle.
- 17.To cease; to desist; to leave off. "He . . . began at the eldest, and left at the youngest." Gen. xliv.
- 18.To leave off, to cease; to desist; to stop. Leave off, and for another summons wait. Roscommon.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00