abandon

[[t]əbæ̱ndən[/t]]

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abandons, abandoning, abandoned

1) VERB 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.

[V n] He claimed that his parents had abandoned him...

[V-ed] The road is strewn with abandoned vehicles.

Ant:

stay with

2) VERB If you abandon an activity or piece of work, you stop doing it before it is finished.

[V n] The authorities have abandoned any attempt to distribute food in an orderly fashion...

[V n] The scheme's investors, fearful of bankruptcy, decided to abandon the project.

Syn:

give up

Ant:

continue

3) VERB If you abandon an idea or way of thinking, you stop having that idea or thinking in that way.

[V n] Logic had prevailed and he had abandoned the idea.

Syn:

give up

4) VERB If you abandon yourself to an emotion, you think about it a lot and feel it strongly, especially when other people might think you are wrong to do so.

[V pron-refl to n] We are scared to abandon ourselves to our feelings in case we seem weak or out of control.

5) N-UNCOUNT: usu with N 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 splashed dollars around with gay abandon...

Their permissiveness toward their children reflects the wild abandon of their own lives.

6) → See also abandoned

7) PHRASE: V inflects If people abandon ship, they get off a ship because it is sinking.

The officers and crew prepared to abandon ship in an orderly fashion.