Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Leave

Leave , intransitive verb

To send out leaves; to leaf; -- often with out. — G. Fletcher

Leave , transitive verb

[See Levy.]

To raise; to levy. [Obsolete]
An army strong she leaved. — Spenser

Leave , noun

[Old English leve, leave, Anglo-Saxon leáf; akin to leóf pleasing, dear, English lief, Dutch oorlof leave, German arlaub, and erlauben to permit, Icelandic leyfi. r124. See Lief.]

1.
Liberty granted by which restraint or illegality is removed; permission; allowance; license.
David earnestly asked leave of me. — 1 Sam. xx. 6
No friend has leave to bear away the dead. — Dryden
2.
The act of leaving or departing; a formal parting; a leaving; farewell; adieu; -- used chiefly in the phrase, to take leave, that is, literally, to take permission to go.
A double blessing is a'double grace; Occasion smiles upon a second leave. — Shakespeare
And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren. — Acts xviii. 18
Collocations (1)
French leave , See under French.

Leave (left) , transitive verb

[Old English leven, Anglo-Saxon l{not transcribed}fan, from lāf remnant, heritage; akin to lifian, libban, to live, orig., to remain; compare belīfan to remain, German bleiben, Gothic bileiban. r119. See Live, v.]

1.
To withdraw one's self from; to go away from; to depart from; as, to leave the house.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. — Gen. ii. 24
2.
To let remain unremoved or undone; to let stay or continue, in distinction from what is removed or changed.
If grape gatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? — Jer. xlix. 9
These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. — Matt. xxiii. 23
Besides it leaveth a suspicion, as if more might be said than is expressed. — Bacon
3.
To cease from; to desist from; to abstain from.
Now leave complaining and begin your tea. — Pope
4.
To desert; to abandon; to forsake; hence, to give up; to relinquish.
Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. — Mark x. 28
The heresies that men do leave. — Shakespeare
5.
To let be or do without interference; as, I left him to his reflections; I leave my hearers to judge.
I will leave you now to your gossiplike humor. — Shakespeare
6.
To put; to place; to deposit; to deliver; to commit; to submit -- with a sense of withdrawing one's self from; as, leave your hat in the hall; we left our cards; to leave the matter to arbitrators.
Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way. — Matt. v. 24
The foot That leaves the print of blood where'er it walks. — Shakespeare
7.
To have remaining at death; hence, to bequeath; as, he left a large estate; he left a good name; he left a legacy to his niece.
8.
to cause to be; -- followed by an adjective or adverb describing a state or condition; as, the losses due to fire leave me penniless; The cost of defending himself left Bill Clinton with a mountain of lawyers' bills.
Collocations (4)
To leave alone , (a) To leave in solitude. (b) To desist or refrain from having to do with; as, to leave dangerous chemicals alone.
To leave off , (a) To desist from; to forbear; to stop; as, to leave off work at six o'clock. (b) To cease wearing or using; to omit to put in the usual position; as, to leave off a garment; to leave off the tablecloth. (c) To forsake; as, to leave off a bad habit.
To leave out , to omit; as, to leave out a word or name in writing.
To leave to one's self , to let (one) be alone; to cease caring for (one).

Leave , intransitive verb

1.
To depart; to set out. [Colloquial]
By the time I left for Scotland. — Carlyle
2.
To cease; to desist; to leave off.
He... began at the eldest, and left at the youngest. — Gen. xliv. 12
Leave off, and for another summons wait. — Roscommon
Collocations (1)
To leave off , to cease; to desist; to stop.