abandoning

Verb

abandon (third-person singular simple present abandons, present participle abandoning, simple past and past participle abandoned)

1. (transitive) To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions.
   • […] he abandoned himself […] to his favourite vice.1856, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II. Volume 3, page 312
2. (transitive) To desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to; to turn away from; to permit to lapse; to renounce; to discontinue.
   • In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.2013 May 17, George Monbiot, “Money just makes the rich suffer”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 23, page 19
3. (transitive) To leave behind; to desert, as in a ship, a position, or a person, typically in response to overwhelming odds or impending dangers; to forsake, in spite of a duty or responsibility.
   • Many baby girls have been abandoned on the streets of Beijing.
4. (obsolete, transitive) To subdue; to take control of.
5. (obsolete, transitive) To cast out; to banish; to expel; to reject.
   • Being all this time abandoned from your bed.1594, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, act I, scene ii
6. (transitive) To no longer exercise a right, title, or interest, especially with no interest of reclaiming it again; to yield; to relinquish.
   • I hereby abandon my position as manager.

See all 9 meanings of abandon