Word.ws English Dictionary

leave

/ˈliːv/

leave verb: 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.

Verb (1)

leave (third-person singular simple present leaves, present participle leaving, simple past and past participle left)

  1. (transitive) 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.
  2. (copulative, intransitive, transitive) 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.
  4. (transitive) To let be or do without interference.
    • I left him to his reflections.
    • I leave my hearers to judge.
  5. (transitive) To depart from; to end one's connection or affiliation with.
    • His bow and arrow never leaves him.
    • I left the country and I left my wife.
  6. (transitive) To end one's membership in (a group); to terminate one's affiliation with (an organization); to stop participating in (a project).
    • If we were to leave, the economic impact on a number of European countries would be severe.2018, The Independent, "Brexit: Theresa May 'not bluffing' in threat to leave EU without a deal, Tory minister Liam Fox says"
    • I left the band.
  7. (euphemistic, transitive) To die (the object denotes those affected by the death).
    • The other evening Sheri called to tell me that Connie had left us, and that I will never again be able to hold my pot luck supper plate on my knee and listen to Connie's wonderful talk or see her slow, almost impish smile.1982 February 13, Nancy Walker, “Connie”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 29, page 10
  8. (intransitive) To depart; to go away from a certain place or state.
    • I think you'd better leave.
  9. (transitive) To transfer possession of after death.
    • When my father died, he left me the house.
  10. (transitive) To intentionally place (something) to be received by another; to deliver (something) to a repository; to deposit.
    • I'll leave the car in the station so you can pick it up there.
    • An hour later, Brianna left a note for her roommate, Jillian Stout, saying she would be back after a work shift.2026 July 16, Nicholas Muhoro, “Inside the 2004 Brianna Maitland Case: One of Vermont’s Most Haunting Mysteries”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 21 Jul 2026
  11. (transitive) To transfer responsibility or attention of (something) (to someone); to stop being concerned with.
    • Can't we just leave this to the experts?
  12. (intransitive, obsolete) To remain (behind); to stay.
    • 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 /...1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVIII
    • 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...1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
  13. (archaic, transitive) To stop, desist from; to "leave off" (+ noun / gerund).
    • When he had leeft speakynge, he sayde vnto Simon: Cary vs into the depe, and lett slippe thy nette to make a draught.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke
    • I will learn to leave these fruitless tears …c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published...

Noun (1)

leave (plural leaves)

  1. The action of the batsman not attempting to play at the ball.
    • He made 45 leaves in his innings of 64.
  2. 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).
    • Having counted 38 points he tried a beautiful massé 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. The leave was unfortunate for Ives. Slosson played brilliantly and ran the game out, a close winner, with 22 points.1890 February 27, “Slosson’s Close Shave”, in New York Times
  3. The tiles remaining on a player's rack after his or her turn.
    • I didn't score much, but LING was a good leave.

Noun (2)

leave (countable and uncountable, plural leaves)

  1. Permission to be absent; time away from one's work.
    • I've just been given three weeks' leave by my boss — I don't think I still have some leave owing to me.
  2. (dated) 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.

Verb (2)

leave (third-person singular simple present leaves, present participle leaving, simple past and past participle leaved or left)

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

Verb (3)

leave (third-person singular simple present leaves, present participle leaving, simple past and past participle leaved)

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

Verb (4)

leave (third-person singular simple present leaves, present participle leaving, simple past and past participle leaved)

  1. (obsolete) To raise; to levy.
    • […]au^([sic – meaning an]) army ſtrong ſhe leau'd,[…]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 31, page 334

leave meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

leave in Hindi

to depart (intransitive)
चला जाना calā jānā, रवाना ravānā
to cause to remain as available, not take away, refrain from depleting
छोड़ना choṛnā
to depart from, end one's connection or affiliation with
छोड़ना choṛnā, जाना jānā
to end one's membership in
छोड़ना choṛnā

leave in Tamil

to depart (intransitive)
கிளம்பு kiḷampu, செல் cel, புறப்படு puṟappaṭu
to cause to remain as available, not take away, refrain from depleting
விடு viṭu
to depart from, end one's connection or affiliation with
கிளம்பு kiḷampu, புறப்படு puṟappaṭu
permission to be absent
விடுப்பு viṭuppu

leave in Marathi

to depart (intransitive)
निघणे nighṇe
to cause to remain as available, not take away, refrain from depleting
सोडणे soḍṇe
permission to be absent
रजा rajā

leave in Urdu

to cause to remain as available, not take away, refrain from depleting
چھوڑنا choṛnā
More languagesFewer languages
leave in Bengali
চলে যাওয়া cole jaōẇa, ছুটি chuṭi, বাদ bad
leave in Telugu
వెళ్ళిపో veḷḷipō
leave in Malayalam
അവധി avadhi, പോകുക pōkuka, ഉപേക്ഷിക്കുക upēkṣikkuka, പിരിയുക piriyuka
leave in Kannada
ಬಿಡು biḍu, ಹರಿ hari
leave in Punjabi
ਛੁੱਟੀ chuṭṭī, ਛੱਡਣਾ chaḍḍaṇā, چھڈنا chaḍḍṇā, چلنا callṇā
leave in Gujarati
વધવું vadhvũ, રજા rajā
leave in Odia
ଛାଡ଼ିବା chāṛibā, ଓହ୍ଲାଇବା ohlāibā
leave in Sanskrit
रिणक्ति riṇakti, त्यजति tyajati, जहाति jahāti
leave in Assamese
এৰা era
leave in Nepali
जानु jānu
leave in Pashto
پرېښودل
leave in Tagalog
umalís, matira, hayaan, iwanan
leave in Arabic
تَرَكَ taraka, غَادَرَ ḡādara, اِنْصَرَفَ inṣarafa, إِجَازَة ʔijāza
leave in Malay
tinggal
leave in Indonesian
berangkat, cuti, tinggal, meninggalkan
leave in Persian
رفتن raftan, مرخصی moraxxasi
leave in Thai
จาก jàak, เหลือ lʉ̌ʉa
leave in Vietnamese
rời khỏi, rời, bỏ

Examples of leave in a sentence

  • I'll leave it to you to decide.
  • Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 5:24:
  • The foot / That leaves the print of blood where'er it walks.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...
  • Now leave Complaining, and begin your Tea.1716, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, The Basset-Table. An Eclogue.:
  • Since I have your good leave 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.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies...

All 40 example sentences with leave

Synonyms of leave

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of leave

Forms of leave

third-person singular presentleaves
present participleleaving
past participleleft
pastleft
past participleleaved
pastleaved

Past tense of leave: left

Plural of leave: leaves

Origin of leave

From Middle English leven, from Old English lǣfan (“to leave”), from Proto-West Germanic *laibijan, from Proto-Germanic *laibijaną (“to let stay, leave”), causative of *lībaną (“to stay, remain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to stick; fat”). Cognate with Old Frisian lēva (“to leave”), dialectal Dutch loven (“to have left over, save, keep”), Old Saxon lēvian, Old High German leiban (“to leave”), Old Norse leifa (“to leave over”) (whence Icelandic leifa (“to leave food uneaten”), Swedish leva (“to leave”)), lifna (“to be left”) (whence Danish levne). More at lave, belive. The noun is attested since the 19th century, with earliest references to billiards.

From Middle English leve, from Old English lēaf (“permission, privilege”), from Proto-Germanic *laubō, *laubą (“permission, privilege, favour, worth”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, hold dear”). Cognate with obsolete German Laube (“permission”), Swedish lov (“permission”), Icelandic leyfi (“permission”). Related to Dutch verlof, German Urlaub, Erlaubnis, Verlaub. See also love.

From Middle English leven, from Old English līefan (“to allow, grant, concede; believe, trust, confide in”), from Proto-West Germanic *laubijan, from Proto-Germanic *laubijaną (“to allow, praise”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, hold dear”). Cognate with German erlauben (“to allow”), German glauben (“to believe”), Icelandic leyfa (“to allow”).

Words formed from leave

Phrases with leave

81 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with leave

45 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about leave

What does leave mean?
Leave means 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.
What is leave in Hindi?
Leave in Hindi is चला जाना (calā jānā), रवाना (ravānā), छोड़ना (choṛnā). See Leave meaning in Hindi.
How do you use leave in a sentence?
I'll leave it to you to decide.
What part of speech is leave?
Leave can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce leave?
Leave is pronounced /ˈliːv/.
What is the past tense of leave?
The past tense of leave is left.

Words near leave in the dictionary

  1. leatwright
  2. leatwrights
  3. leaue
  4. leavability
  5. leavable
  6. leave
  7. leave a lot to be desired
  8. leave a mark
  9. leave a sour taste in one's mouth
  10. leave a stone unturned
  11. leave alone

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: leave (page history and authors); চলে যাওয়া (Bengali) (page history and authors); അവധി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಬಿಡು (Kannada) (page history and authors); چلنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ଓହ୍ଲାଇବା (Odia) (page history and authors); پرېښودل (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-to leave.ogg, en-us-leave.ogg, en-au-leave.ogg.

Cite this entry: “leave.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/leave. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.