took leave of one's senses

Verb

take leave of one's senses (third-person singular simple present takes leave of one's senses, present participle taking leave of one's senses, simple past took leave of one's senses, past participle taken leave of one's senses)

1. (idiomatic) To go crazy; to stop behaving rationally.
   • Here I am, with my book and my pencil—the latter not pointed so well as I could wish, but when Christians take leave of their senses, who is to expect that pencils will keep their points?1868 January 4 – June 6, [William] Wilkie Collins, “Second Period. The Discovery of the Truth. (1848–1849.) […] [Fourth Narrative. Extracted from the Journal of Ezra Jennings.]”, in The Moonstone. A...