Leave (?), v. i. 1. To
depart; to set out. [Colloq.]
By the time I left for Scotland.
Carlyle. 2. To cease; to desist; to leave off. "He . . . began at the eldest, and left at the youngest." Gen. xliv. 12.
To leave off, to cease; to desist; to stop.
Leave off, and for another summons wait.
Roscommon.
Leave , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Left (l&ebreve;ft); p. pr. & vb. n.
Leaving.]
[OE. leven, AS. l&?;fan, fr. lāf remnant, heritage; akin to lifian, libban, to live, orig., to remain; cf. belīfan to
remain, G. bleiben, Goth. bileiban. √119. See
Live, v.]
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. 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. To cease from; to desist from; to abstain from.
Now
leave complaining and begin your tea.
Pope.
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. 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. 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. 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.
Leave , n. [OE. leve, leave, AS. leáf; akin to leóf pleasing, dear, E. lief, D. oorlof leave, G. arlaub, and erlauben to permit, Icel. leyfi. √124. See Lief.]
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. 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.
French leave.
See under French.
Syn. -- See Liberty.
Leave , v. t. [See Levy.]
To raise; to levy. [Obs.]
An army strong she leaved.
Spenser.
Leave (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Leaved (?); p. pr. &
vb. n. Leaving]
To send out leaves; to leaf; -- often with out. G. Fletcher.
Hear it pronounced