English
leave
Pronunciation Verb

leave (leaves, present participle leaving; past and past participle left)

  1. (transitive) To have a consequence or remnant.
    1. To cause or allow (something) to remain as available; to refrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely.
      I left my car at home and took a bus to work.  The ants did not leave so much as a crumb of bread.  There's not much food left. We'd better go to the shops.
    2. To cause, to result in.
      The lightning left her dazzled for several minutes.  Infantile paralysis left him lame for the rest of his life.
    3. (transitive) To put; to place; to deposit; to deliver, with a sense of withdrawing oneself.
      Leave your hat in the hall.  We should leave the legal matters to lawyers.  I left my sewing and went to the window to watch the falling snow.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Matthew 5:24 ↗:
        Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way.
      • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene iii]:
        The foot / That leaves the print of blood where'er it walks.
  2. To depart; to separate from.
    1. To let be or do without interference.
      I left him to his reflections.  I leave my hearers to judge.
    2. (transitive) To depart from; to end one's connection or affiliation with.
      I left the country and I left my wife.
    3. (transitive) To end one's membership in (a group); to terminate one's affiliation with (an organization); to stop participating in (a project).
      • 2018, The Independent, "Brexit: Theresa May 'not bluffing' in threat to leave EU without a deal, Tory minister Liam Fox says"
        If we were to leave, the economic impact on a number of European countries would be severe.
      I left the band.
    4. (intransitive) To depart; to go away from a certain place or state.
      I think you'd better leave.
  3. To transfer something.
    1. (transitive) To transfer possession of after death.
      When my father died, he left me the house.
    2. (transitive) To give (something) to someone; to deliver (something) to a repository; to deposit.
      I'll leave the car in the station so you can pick it up there.
    3. (transitive) To transfer responsibility or attention of (something) (to someone); to stop being concerned with.
      Can't we just leave this to the experts?
  4. (intransitive, obsolete) To remain (behind); to stay.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:20.11?rgn=div2;view=fulltext chapter xj], in Le Morte Darthur, book XVIII:
      And whanne sire launcelot sawe them fare soo / he gat a spere in his hand / and there encountred with hym al attones syr bors sir Ector and sire Lyonel / and alle they thre smote hym atte ones with their speres / […] / and by mysfortune sir bors smote syre launcelot thurgh the shelde in to the syde / and the spere brake / and the hede lefte stylle in his syde
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314 ↗, page 0147 ↗:
      Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either.
  5. (transitive, archaic) To stop, desist from; to "leave off" (+ noun / gerund).
    • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Gospel of Luke V:
      When he had leeft speakynge, he sayde vnto Simon: Cary vs into the depe, and lett slippe thy nette to make a draught.
    • 1716 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, The Basset-Table. An Eclogue.
      Now leave Complaining, and begin your Tea.
Conjugation


conjugation of leave

infinitive leave
present participle leaving
past participle left
simple progressive perfect perfect progressive
present I leave we leave I am leaving we are leaving I have left we have left I have been leaving we have been leaving
you leave you leave you are leaving you are leaving you have left you have left you have been leaving you have been leaving
he leaves they leave he is leaving they are leaving he has left they have left he has been leaving they have been leaving
past I left we left I was leaving we were leaving I had left we had left I had been leaving we had been leaving
you left you left you were leaving you were leaving you had left you had left you had been leaving you had been leaving
he left they left he was leaving they were leaving he had left they had left he had been leaving they had been leaving
future I will leave we will leave I will be leaving we will be leaving I will have left we will have left I will have been leaving we will have been leaving
you will leave you will leave you will be leaving you will be leaving you will have left you will have left you will have been leaving you will have been leaving
he will leave they will leave he will be leaving they will be leaving he will have left they will have left he will have been leaving they will have been leaving
conditional I would leave we would leave I would be leaving we would be leaving I would have left we would have left I would have been leaving we would have been leaving
you would leave you would leave you would be leaving you would be leaving you would have left you would have left you would have been leaving you would have been leaving
he would leave they would leave he would be leaving they would be leaving he would have left they would have left he would have been leaving they would have been leaving
imperative leave

Synonyms Translations Translations Translations
  • Portuguese: deixar
  • Russian: оставля́ть
  • Spanish: depositar, dejar
Translations
  • Portuguese: deixar
  • Russian: оставля́ть
Translations Translations
  • Portuguese: deixar, sair
  • Russian: покида́ть
Translations Noun

leave (plural leaves)

  1. (cricket) The action of the batsman not attempting to play at the ball.
  2. (billiards) The arrangement of balls in play that remains after a shot is made (which determines whether the next shooter — who may be either the same player, or an opponent — has good options, or only poor ones).
Noun

leave

  1. Permission to be absent; time away from one's work.
    I've been given three weeks' leave by my boss.
  2. (dated or legal) Permission.
    Might I beg leave to accompany you?
    The applicant now seeks leave to appeal and, if leave be granted, to appeal against these sentences.
  3. (dated) Farewell, departure.
    I took my leave of the gentleman without a backward glance.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Verb

leave (leaves, present participle leaving; past and past participle leaved)

  1. (transitive) To give leave to; allow; permit; let; grant.
    We were not left go to the beach after school except on a weekend.
Verb

leave (leaves, present participle leaving; past and past participle leaved)

  1. (intransitive, rare) To produce leaves or foliage.
    • 1868, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, 2nd edition:
      Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say:
      Yes, but where leaves the Rose of Yesterday?
Synonyms Verb

leave (leaves, present participle leaving; past and past participle leaved)

  1. (obsolete) To raise; to levy.
    • An army strong she leaved.


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