Meaning

(transitive) To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To give up or relinquish control of, to surrender or to give oneself over, or to yield to one's emotions.
2. (transitive) To desist in doing, practicing, following, holding, or adhering to; to turn away from; to permit to lapse; to renounce; to discontinue.
3. (transitive) To leave behind; to desert, as in a ship, a position, or a person, typically in response to overwhelming odds or impending dangers; to forsake, in spite of a duty or responsibility.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To subdue; to take control of.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To cast out; to banish; to expel; to reject.
6. (transitive) To no longer exercise a right, title, or interest, especially with no interest of reclaiming it again; to yield; to relinquish.
7. (transitive) To surrender to the insurer (an insured item), so as to claim a total loss.
8. A yielding to natural impulses or inhibitions; freedom from artificial constraint, with loss of appreciation of consequences. (Now especially in the phrase with abandon.)

Example Sentences

[…] he abandoned himself […] to his favourite vice.

In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.

Many baby girls have been abandoned on the streets of Beijing.

He was abandoned on the island with no one to help him.

She abandoned her husband for a new man.

Hope was overthrown, and yet could not be abandoned.

Being all this time abandoned from your bed.

I hereby abandon my position as manager.

Word Forms

• abandons
• abandoning
• abandoned
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• abandon
• abandonest
• abandonedst
• abandoneth
• -

Synonyms for abandon

Antonyms for abandon

Related Words

When Should You Use Abandon?

Use abandon when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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