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| leave [ leev ] (past left [ left ], past participle left, present participle leav·ing, 3rd person present singular leaves) |
verb |
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| Definition: |
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1. transitive and intransitive verb depart: to go away from a person or place
  I leave the office at five o'clock every day.
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2. transitive verb desert somebody or something: to abandon a person or place
She has left the city to live in the country.
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3. transitive and intransitive verb give up position in something: to end participation in a group or activity
She left that job for a better one.
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4. transitive verb cause something to remain: to give something to somebody or put something in a place before departing
I left my number with Dan.
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5. transitive verb let something remain behind accidentally: to forget to bring something away from a place
I must have left my keys at the office.
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6. transitive verb set something aside: to save or keep something for somebody's use
I left some cake for you.
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7. transitive verb not change condition of something: to allow something or somebody to remain unchanged in a particular state
I left my coat on.
Leave your sister alone.
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8. transitive verb give something in will: to bequeath something as a legacy
He plans to leave all his money to charity.
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9. transitive verb have somebody as survivor: to be survived by somebody after death
He leaves a wife and two young sons.
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10. transitive verb give job to another: to transfer control of or responsibility for something to somebody
Leave it to me.
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11. transitive verb reject something: to reject something offered
That's the best I can offer, take it or leave it.
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12. transitive verb have something remaining: to cause an amount to remain by removing some amount or part
6 minus 4 leaves 2.
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| [ Old English lǣfan< Indo-European, "to stick"] |
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| leav·er noun |
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leave somebody or something be to stop bothering somebody or something
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leave go or hold of somebody or something
1. to stop bothering somebody, or stop interfering in a situation
2. to stop holding somebody or something
Leave go of my arm!
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leave it at that to do or say no more about something
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leave somebody or something alone to avoid bothering or becoming involved with somebody or something
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leave much to be desired to be highly unsatisfactory
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leave somebody to himself or herself to go away and allow somebody to be aloneoften passive
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leave well enough alone to leave a situation as it is rather than risk making it worse
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