Adjacent Words

Abandon definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ABAN'DON, v.t. [Fr. abandonner; Sp. and Port. abandonar; It. abbandonare; said to be from ban, and donner, to give over to the ban or proscription; or from a or ab and bandum, a flag or ensign.]
1. To forsake entirely; as to abandon a hopeless enterprize.
Wo to that generation by which the testimony of God shall be abandoned.
2. To renounce and forsake; to leave with a view never to return; to desert as lost or desperate; as to abandon a country; to abandon a cause or party.
3. To give up or resign without control, as when a person yields himself, without restraint, to a propensity; as to abandon one's self to intemperance. Abandoned over and abandoned of are obsolete.
4. To resign; to yield, relinquish, or give over entirely.
Verus abandoned the cares of empire to his wiser colleague.
5. In commerce, to relinquish to insurers all claim to a ship or goods insured, as a preliminary towards recovering for a total loss.
ABAN'DON, n. One who totally forsakes or deserts.
2. A relinquishment. [not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the trait of lacking restraint or control; reckless freedom from inhibition or worry; "she danced with abandon" [syn: abandon, wantonness, unconstraint]
2: a feeling of extreme emotional intensity; "the wildness of his anger" [syn: wildness, abandon] v
1: forsake, leave behind; "We abandoned the old car in the empty parking lot"
2: give up with the intent of never claiming again; "Abandon your life to God"; "She gave up her children to her ex- husband when she moved to Tahiti"; "We gave the drowning victim up for dead" [syn: abandon, give up]
3: leave behind empty; move out of; "You must vacate your office by tonight" [syn: vacate, empty, abandon]
4: stop maintaining or insisting on; of ideas or claims; "He abandoned the thought of asking for her hand in marriage"; "Both sides have to give up some claims in these negotiations" [syn: abandon, give up]
5: leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch; "The mother deserted her children" [syn: abandon, forsake, desolate, desert]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English abandounen, from Anglo-French abanduner, from (mettre) a bandun to hand over, put in someone's control Date: 14th century 1. a. to give up to the control or influence of another person or agent b. to give up with the intent of never again claiming a right or interest in <abandon property> 2. to withdraw from often in the face of danger or encroachment <abandon ship> 3. to withdraw protection, support, or help from <he abandoned his family> 4. to give (oneself) over unrestrainedly 5. a. to cease from maintaining, practicing, or using <abandoned their native language> b. to cease intending or attempting to perform <abandoned the escape> • abandoner noun • abandonment noun Synonyms: abandon, desert, forsake mean to leave without intending to return. abandon suggests that the thing or person left may be helpless without protection <abandoned children>. desert implies that the object left may be weakened but not destroyed by one's absence <a deserted town>. forsake suggests an action more likely to bring impoverishment or bereavement to that which is forsaken than its exposure to physical dangers <a forsaken lover>. Synonym: see in addition relinquish. II. noun Date: 1822 a thorough yielding to natural impulses; especially enthusiasm, exuberance <with reckless abandon>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 give up completely or before completion (abandoned hope; abandoned the game). 2 a forsake or desert (a person or a post of responsibility). b leave or desert (a motor vehicle or ship). 3 a give up to another's control or mercy. b refl. yield oneself completely to a passion or impulse. --n. lack of inhibition or restraint; reckless freedom of manner. Derivatives: abandoner n. abandonment n. Etymology: ME f. OF abandoner f. à bandon under control ult. f. LL bannus, -um BAN

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Abandon A*ban"don ([.a]*b[a^]n"d[u^]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abandoned (-d[u^]nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Abandoning.] [OF. abandoner, F. abandonner; a (L. ad) + bandon permission, authority, LL. bandum, bannum, public proclamation, interdiction, bannire to proclaim, summon: of Germanic origin; cf. Goth. bandwjan to show by signs, to designate OHG. ban proclamation. The word meant to proclaim, put under a ban, put under control; hence, as in OE., to compel, subject, or to leave in the control of another, and hence, to give up. See Ban.] 1. To cast or drive out; to banish; to expel; to reject. [Obs.] That he might . . . abandon them from him. --Udall. Being all this time abandoned from your bed. --Shak. 2. To give up absolutely; to forsake entirely; to renounce utterly; to relinquish all connection with or concern on; to desert, as a person to whom one owes allegiance or fidelity; to quit; to surrender. Hope was overthrown, yet could not be abandoned. --I. Taylor. 3. Reflexively: To give (one's self) up without attempt at self-control; to yield (one's self) unrestrainedly; -- often in a bad sense. He abandoned himself . . . to his favorite vice. --Macaulay. 4. (Mar. Law) To relinquish all claim to; -- used when an insured person gives up to underwriters all claim to the property covered by a policy, which may remain after loss or damage by a peril insured against. Syn: To give up; yield; forego; cede; surrender; resign; abdicate; quit; relinquish; renounce; desert; forsake; leave; retire; withdraw from. Usage: To Abandon, Desert, Forsake. These words agree in representing a person as giving up or leaving some object, but differ as to the mode of doing it. The distinctive sense of abandon is that of giving up a thing absolutely and finally; as, to abandon one's friends, places, opinions, good or evil habits, a hopeless enterprise, a shipwrecked vessel. Abandon is more widely applicable than forsake or desert. The Latin original of desert appears to have been originally applied to the case of deserters from military service. Hence, the verb, when used of persons in the active voice, has usually or always a bad sense, implying some breach of fidelity, honor, etc., the leaving of something which the person should rightfully stand by and support; as, to desert one's colors, to desert one's post, to desert one's principles or duty. When used in the passive, the sense is not necessarily bad; as, the fields were deserted, a deserted village, deserted halls. Forsake implies the breaking off of previous habit, association, personal connection, or that the thing left had been familiar or frequented; as, to forsake old friends, to forsake the paths of rectitude, the blood forsook his cheeks. It may be used either in a good or in a bad sense.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Abandon A*ban"don, n. [F. abandon. fr. abandonner. See Abandon, v.] Abandonment; relinquishment. [Obs.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Abandon A`ban`don" ([.a]`b[aum]N`d[^o]N"), n. [F. See Abandon.] A complete giving up to natural impulses; freedom from artificial constraint; careless freedom or ease.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(abandons, abandoning, abandoned) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you abandon a place, thing, or person, you leave the place, thing, or person permanently or for a long time, especially when you should not do so. He claimed that his parents had abandoned him... The road is strewn with abandoned vehicles. VERB: V n, V-ed 2. If you abandon an activity or piece of work, you stop doing it before it is finished. The authorities have abandoned any attempt to distribute food... = give up ? continue VERB: V n 3. If you abandon an idea or way of thinking, you stop having that idea or thinking in that way. Logic had prevailed and he had abandoned the idea. = give up VERB: V n 4. If you say that someone does something with abandon, you mean that they behave in a wild, uncontrolled way and do not think or care about how they should behave. He has spent money with gay abandon... N-UNCOUNT: usu with N [disapproval] 5. see also abandoned 6. If people abandon ship, they get off a ship because it is sinking. PHRASE: v inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Leave, relinquish, quit, forsake, desert, evacuate, drop, abjure, forswear, give over, cast off, retire from, withdraw from. 2. Surrender, cede, yield, resign, forego, renounce, waive, vacate, deliver up, give up, part with, let go, lay down, demit. See abdicate.

Moby Thesaurus

abandonment, abjection, abjure, abort, abscond, acknowledge defeat, ardency, ardor, back out, beat a retreat, beg a truce, beg off, belay, boundlessness, bow out, break the habit, brush aside, brush off, cancel, capitulate, careless abandon, carelessness, cast, cast aside, cast away, cast off, casualness, cease, cede, chuck, come to terms, commitment, committedness, corruptedness, corruption, corruptness, craze, cry off, cry pax, cry quits, cursoriness, cut, cut it out, debasement, decadence, decadency, dedication, deep-six, degeneracy, degenerateness, degeneration, degradation, delirium, demoralization, depart from, depravation, depravedness, depravity, desert, desist, devotedness, devotion, devoutness, disappear, discard, discontinue, disgorge, dismiss, dispense with, dispose of, disregardfulness, dissoluteness, disuse, ditch, do without, drop, drop it, drop out, drop the subject, dump, earnestness, ease, easiness, ecstasy, egregiousness, eighty-six, eliminate, end, enormousness, evacuate, exaggeration, excess, excessiveness, exorbitance, exorbitancy, extravagance, extravagancy, extreme, extremes, extremism, extremity, exuberance, fabulousness, faith, faithfulness, fervency, fervidness, fervor, fidelity, fire, fire and fury, forget, forget about it, forget it, forgetfulness, forgo, forsake, forswear, freedom, frenzy, fun, furor, furore, fury, games, get along without, get quit of, get rid of, get shut of, giantism, gigantism, give away, give over, give up, gluttony, go back on, goldbrick, goof off, halt, hand over, hastiness, have done with, heartiness, heat, heatedness, heedlessness, hold, hyperbole, hypertrophy, hysteria, immoderacy, immoderateness, immoderation, impassionedness, implore mercy, impulsiveness, inconsiderateness, inconsideration, incontinence, indifference, indiscipline, inordinacy, inordinance, inordinateness, insouciance, intemperance, intemperateness, intensity, intentness, intoxication, irrepressibility, jettison, jilt, jump, junk, kick, kiss good-bye, knock it off, lack of foresight, laxity, laxness, lay aside, lay off, laziness, leave, leave behind, leave flat, leave loose ends, leave off, leave undone, let alone, let be, let dangle, let go, let it go, let slip, liberty, license, licentiousness, looseness, loyalty, madness, make a sacrifice, malinger, maroon, miss, monstrousness, moral pollution, moral turpitude, naturalness, nimiety, noncoercion, nonintimidation, oblivion, offhandedness, omit, orgasm, orgy, outrageousness, overdevelopment, overgreatness, overgrowth, overindulgence, overlargeness, overmuch, overmuchness, part with, pass over, pass up, passion, passionateness, perfunctoriness, permissiveness, play, pray for quarter, pretermit, procrastinate, profligacy, pull out, push aside, put aside, quit, quit cold, quitclaim, radicalism, rage, rapture, ravishment, recant, recklessness, refrain, regardlessness, reject, relinquish, remove, render up, renege, renounce, reprobacy, repudiate, resign, resolution, retire, retract, retreat, riotousness, rottenness, run out on, sacrifice, say goodbye to, say uncle, scrap, scrub, seriousness, set aside, shake, shirk, shrug off, sincerity, skip, slack, slough, sneeze at, spare, spirit, spontaneity, sport, sprezzatura, stand down, stay, stop, surrender, swear off, tactlessness, take leave of, take the pledge, tearing passion, terminate, think nothing of, thoughtlessness, throw away, throw off, throw out, throw over, throw overboard, throw up, thrust aside, too much, too-muchness, toss overboard, towering rage, transport, trifle, turn away from, turn up, turpitude, unconscionableness, unconstrained, unconstraint, uncontrol, undueness, unheedfulness, uninhibitedness, unmindfulness, unpreparedness, unreadiness, unreasonableness, unreserve, unrestrainedness, unrestraint, unruliness, unsolicitousness, unsolicitude, unstrictness, unthinkingness, vacate, vanish, vehemence, waive, wantonness, warmth, wildness, withdraw, yield, yield the palm, zeal