• (Received Pronunciation,Canada)IPA^(key):/liːv/
• (General American)IPA^(key):/liv/

• Audio(UK);“to leave”:

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• Audio(US):

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• Audio(General Australian):

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• Rhymes:-iːv

FromMiddle Englishleven, fromOld Englishlǣfan(“to leave”), fromProto-West Germanic*laibijan, fromProto-Germanic*laibijaną(“to let stay, leave”), causative of*lībaną(“to stay, remain”), fromProto-Indo-European*leyp-(“to stick; fat”).

Cognate withOld Frisianlēva(“to leave”),Old Saxonlēvian,Old High Germanleiban(“to leave”),Old Norseleifa(“to leave over”) (whenceIcelandicleifa(“to leave food uneaten”)),lifna(“to be left”) (whenceDanishlevne). More atlave,belive.

The noun is attested since the 19th century, with earliest references to billiards.

leave (third-person singular simple presentleaves,present participleleaving,simple past and past participleleft)

1. To have a consequence or remnant.
   1. (transitive) To cause or allow (something) toremain asavailable; torefrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely.

      Ileft my car at home and took a bus to work.

      The ants did notleave so much as a crumb of bread.

      There's not much foodleft. We'd better go to the shops.

      • 1918,W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, inThe Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC:

        […] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind andleft only a dull oppression of the spirit.

      • 2013 May-June,David Van Tassel,Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, inAmerican Scientist, volume101, number 3:

        Plant breeding is always a numbers game. […]. The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, […]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal,leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

   2. (transitive orintransitive,copulative) To cause, to result in.

      The lightningleft her dazzled for several minutes.

      Infantile paralysisleft him lame for the rest of his life.

      Sheleft disappointed.

      • 1899,Stephen Crane, chapter 1, inTwelve O'Clock:

        There was some laughter, and Roddle wasleft free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town. “Mason Rickets, he had ten big punkins a-sittin' in front of his store, an' them fellers from the Upside-down-F ranch shot 'em up […].”

      • 1918,W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, inThe Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC:

        The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed itleft him shaking.

      • 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, inThe Economist, volume408, number8845:

        [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions wereleft in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.

   4. (transitive) To put; to place; to deposit; to deliver, with a sense of withdrawing oneself.

      Leave your hat in the hall.

      We shouldleave the legal matters to lawyers.

      Ileft my sewing and went to the window to watch the falling snow.

      • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Matthew5:24:

        Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way.

      • c.1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene iii]:

        The foot / Thatleaves the print of blood where'er it walks.

2. To depart; to separate from.
   1. (transitive) Tolet be or do without interference.

      Ileft him to his reflections.

      Ileave my hearers to judge.

      {{ux|en|I'llleave it to you to decide.}

   3. (transitive) Todepart from; to end one's connection oraffiliation with.

      Ileft the country and Ileft my wife.

      • 1897 December (indicated as1898),Winston Churchill, chapter I, inThe Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company; London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC:

        I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after Ileft New York for the West.

   4. (transitive) Toend one'smembership in (a group); to terminate one's affiliation with (an organization); tostop 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 toleave, the economic impact on a number of European countries would be severe.

      Ileft the band.

   5. (intransitive) To depart; togo away from a certain place or state.

      I think you'd betterleave.

3. To transfer something.
   1. (transitive) Totransferpossession of after death.

      When my father died, heleft me the house.

   2. (transitive) Togive (something) to someone; todeliver (something) to a repository; todeposit.

      I'llleave the car in the station so you can pick it up there.

   3. (transitive) To transferresponsibility orattention of (something) (to someone); tostop beingconcerned with.

      Can't we justleave this to the experts?

4. (intransitive,obsolete) Toremain (behind); tostay.
   • 1485,Sir Thomas Malory, “xj”, inLe 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 hedelefte stylle in his syde

     (pleaseadd an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1910,Emerson Hough, chapter II, inThe Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC:

     Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, […]. Even such a boat as theMount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as toleave 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) Tostop, desist from; to "leave off" (+ noun / gerund).
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.],The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany:Peter Schöffer],→OCLC,Luke:

     When he hadleeft speakynge, he sayde vnto Simon: Cary vs into the depe, and lett slippe thy nette to make a draught.

   • c.1589–1590 (date written),Christopher Marlo[we], edited byTho[mas] Heywood,The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London:[…] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published1633,→OCLC,Act I:

     I will learn to leave these fruitless tears …

   • 1716,Lady Mary Wortley Montagu,The Basset-Table. An Eclogue.‎^[1]:

     Nowleave Complaining, and begin your Tea.

• (to depart):SeeThesaurus:leave
• (to end one's connection with):depart,forget,leave behind

• → Russian:лива́ть(livátʹ),ливну́ть(livnútʹ)
• → Ukrainian:ліва́ти(liváty),лівну́ти(livnúty)

leave (pluralleaves)

1. (cricket) The action of thebatsman 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).
   • 1890 February 27, “Slosson’s Close Shave”, inNew York Times‎^[2]:

     Having counted 38 points he tried a beautifulmassé out of the corner, hit the first ball just a trifle too hard and kissed his own ball off just when victory seemed to be his. Theleave was unfortunate for Ives. Slosson played brilliantly and ran the game out, a close winner, with 22 points.

FromMiddle Englishleve, fromOld Englishlēaf(“permission, privilege”), fromProto-Germanic*laubō,*laubą(“permission, privilege, favour, worth”), fromProto-Indo-European*lewbʰ-(“to love, hold dear”). Cognate with obsoleteGermanLaube(“permission”),Swedishlov(“permission”),Icelandicleyfi(“permission”). Related toDutchverlof,GermanErlaubnis. See alsolove.

leave (countable anduncountable,pluralleaves)

2. Permission to be absent;time away from one'swork.

   Synonyms:annual leave,holiday;see alsoThesaurus:vacation

   I've been given three weeks'leave by my boss.

4. (dated orlaw)Permission.

   Synonyms:authorisation,consent

   Might I begleave to accompany you?

   The applicant now seeksleave to appeal and, ifleave be granted, to appeal against these sentences.

   • c.1596–1598 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act III, scene ii]:

     Since I have your goodleave to go away, / I will make haste: but, till I come again, / No bed shall e'er be guilty of my stay, / Nor rest be interposer 'twixt us twain.

5. (dated)Farewell,departure.

   I took myleave of the gentleman without a backward glance.

FromMiddle Englishleven, fromOld Englishlīefan(“to allow, grant, concede; believe, trust, confide in”), fromProto-West Germanic*laubijan, fromProto-Germanic*laubijaną(“to allow, praise”), fromProto-Indo-European*lewbʰ-(“to love, hold dear”). Cognate withGermanlauben(“to allow, believe”),Icelandicleyfa(“to allow”).

leave (third-person singular simple presentleaves,present participleleaving,simple past and past participleleavedorleft)

1. (transitive) To give leave to;allow;permit;let;grant.

FromMiddle Englishleven, fromlef(“leaf”). More atleaf.

leave (third-person singular simple presentleaves,present participleleaving,simple past and past participleleaved)

1. (intransitive,rare) To produceleaves orfoliage.^[1]
   • 1868,Edward Fitzgerald,The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, 2nd edition:

     Each Morn a thousand Roses brings, you say:
     Yes, but whereleaves the Rose of Yesterday?

• leaf(verb)

FromFrenchlever. Comparelevy.^[2] Compare alsoMiddle Englishleve, a variant oflevy that may have been monosyllabic.^[3]

leave (third-person singular simple presentleaves,present participleleaving,simple past and past participleleaved)

1. (obsolete) Toraise; tolevy.
   • 1590,Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, inThe Faerie Queene. […], London:[…] [John Wolfe] forWilliam Ponsonbie,→OCLC, stanza 31,page334:

     […]au^{[sic – meaningan]} army ſtrong ſheleau'd,[…]

• William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “leave”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
• “leave”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.

• Veale,veale