Meaning: absence without leave

n.
unauthorized military absence

leave Idiom, Proverb

leave a bad taste in one

leave a bad impression, make one feel disgusted The way that the company fired the workers left a bad taste in everyone

leave alone

don

leave behind

leave something somewhere I left my coat behind in the restaurant.

leave hanging (in the air)

leave undecided or unsettled Whether or not they will be leaving next year was left hanging in the air at the end of the meeting.

leave in the lurch

desert or leave alone and in trouble, refuse to help or support someone He left me in the lurch when he didn

leave (let) well enough alone

be satisfied with something that is good enough You should let well enough alone and be happy with your work schedule the way it is.

leave me hanging

leave me wondering what happened You begin a story, but you don't finish it. You leave me hanging.

leave no stone unturned

try in every way, do everything possible The police left no stone unturned when they were looking for the little girl who was lost.

leave out

not include, discard Leave out the cracked dishes. We'll throw them away.

leave out in the cold

not invite, exclude Kim didn't receive an invitation. She was left out in the cold.

leave (someone) holding the bag

leave someone else to take the blame He left me holding the bag when he ran away from the accident.

leave the door open

allow people to reply, invite a response, feel free to reply If you offer to provide answers to their questions, you leave the door open for a reply.

leave well enough alone

do nothing (because doing something would make things

leave you holding the bag

leave you to do the work or finish a difficult job He left me holding the bag. I had to finish the work by myself.

leave you in the lurch

leave you with a problem, fend for yourself The bride didn't go to the church. The groom was left in the lurch.

leave yourself open

not protect yourself, allow people to hurt you By coming late to work, he left himself open to discipline.

love them and leave them

love them but not stay with them When Claude was touring Europe, he'd love 'em and leave 'em.

take it or leave it

"take this offer or refuse it; no bargaining" I'll give you $150 for the sofa - take it or leave it.

take leave of

abandon, go away from or become separated from I think that he has taken leave of his senses. He has been acting very strange lately.

take leave of your senses

act like a fool, not think clearly, off your rocker If you wear your bathing suit to church, people will think you've taken leave of your senses.

beaver leaver

the penis

leave for

go to；start for 离此而去…；往…出发…
We are leaving for Canada next week．下星期我们要去加拿大。

leave off

1．stop 停止
Please leave off biting your nails．请不要咬指甲。
He told the boys to leave off teasing his little brother．他要那些孩子们停止戏弄他的小弟弟。
I think we should leave off now and have a cup of tea．我想我们该停下来喝杯茶了。
We leave off work at 12．我们12点钟下班。
2．no longer wear；stop wearing or using不再穿；不再使用
They left their woollen underwear when the weather got warm．天气转暖时，他们不穿羊毛衫了。
She left her coat off when she went out．她没穿外衣就出去了。
I have left off my overcoat．我已经不穿大衣了。
He has left off all ather medicines．他已停服其它所有的药。

leave on

1．continue wearing继续穿
I feel a bit cold so I'll leave my coat on．我觉得有点冷，所以外套就不脱了。
It's rude for a man to leave his hat on indoors．一个男子在室内仍戴着帽子是不礼貌的。
2．allow to stay in place or position 使…留在原处
Leave the cloth on．I want to lay the table for supper．台布不要取下，我要摆桌子开晚饭了。
3．not switch off 不关
The electric fire had been left on overnight．电炉整夜没有关。
Don't leave the light on when you go out？出去时，请关灯。
I want to leave the soup on all morning to thicken it．我想把这个汤煮一个上午，让汤煮稠点。

leave sbto himself

leave sb．to look after himself；not control sb．听任某人自行其是；自己照看自己；不去管
I decided to leave Jim to himself after he had refused to accept any of my suggestions．吉姆拒绝我的任何建议之后，我决定一切由他去。
The children were left very much to themselves during the holidays．孩子们在假期中可以自由活动。

leave to

give the choice or decision to 让…来决定、选择；把某事交给…处理
Since you don't want to decide，leave the matter up to your boss when he returns．既然你不想作决定，就让你老板回来后作决定吧。
I left the choice of colours for the house up to my wife．我让我妻子来选择房子的颜色。
Now you just leave it to me．这事你交给我好了。

leave (up) to

on leave

absent with permission请假；休假
The soldier is absent from his regiment on leave．这位士兵休假，不在队上。

take one's leave of

Idiom(s): take (one's) leave (of sb)

Theme: DEPART

to say good-bye to someone and leave.
• I took leave of the hostess at an early hour.
• One by one, the guests took their leave.

take leave of one's senses

Idiom(s): take leave of one's senses

Theme: CRAZINESS

to become irrational. (Often verbatim with one's.)
• What are you doing? Have you taken leave of your senses?
• What a terrible situation! It's enough to make one take leave of one's senses.

leave word

Idiom(s): leave word (with sb)

Theme: COMMUNICATION

to leave a message with someone (who will pass the message on to someone else).
• If you decide to go to the convention, please leave word with my secretary.
• Leave word before you go.
• I left word with your brother. Didn't he give you the message?

leave sth open

Idiom(s): leave sth open

Theme: PLANNING

to leave a date or time unscheduled.
• I left something open on Friday, just in case we want to leave work early.
• Please leave something open for Mrs. Wallace next week. She will be calling in to our off ice for an appointment.

leave sth for another occasion

Idiom(s): leave something for another occasion AND keep something for another occasion

Theme: RESERVING

to hold back something for later. (Occasion can be replaced with time, day, person, etc.)
• Please leave some cake for me.
• Don't eat all the turkey. Leave some for another day.
• I have to keep some of my paycheck for next month.

leave sb out in the cold

Idiom(s): leave sb out in the cold

Theme: EXCLUSION

to fail to inform someone; to exclude someone.
• I don't know what's going on. They left me out in the cold.
• Tom wasn't invited. They left him out in the cold.

leave sb in the lurch

Idiom(s): leave sb in the lurch

Theme: WAITING

to leave someone waiting for or anticipating your actions.
• Where were you, John? You really left me in the lurch.
• I didn't mean to leave you in the lurch. I thought we had canceled our meeting.

leave sb in peace

Idiom(s): leave sb in peace

Theme: DEPART

to stop bothering someone; to go away and leave someone in peace. (Does not necessarily mean to go away from a person.)
• Please go—leave me in peace.
• Cant you see that you re upsetting her? Leave her in peace.

leave sb holding the bag

Idiom(s): leave sb holding the bag

Theme: BLAME

to leave someone to take all the blame; to leave someone appearing guilty. (Informal.)
• They all ran off and left me holding the bag. It wasn't even my fault.
• It was the mayor's fault, but he wasn't left holding the bag.

leave sb flat

Idiom(s): leave sb flat

Theme: FAILURE

to fail to entertain or stimulate someone.
• Your joke left me flat.
• We listened carefully to his lecture, but it left us flat.

leave oneself wide open for

Idiom(s): leave oneself wide open for something AND leave oneself wide open to something

Theme: PROTECTION - LACKING

to invite criticism or joking about oneself; to fail to protect oneself from criticism or ridicule.
• Yes, that was a harsh remark, Jane, but you left yourself wide open to it.
• I can't complain about your joke. I left myself wide open for it.

leave one to one's fate

Idiom(s): leave one to one's fate

Theme: DISPOSAL

to abandon someone to whatever may happen—possibly death or some other unpleasant event.
• We couldn't rescue the miners and were forced to leave them to their fate.
• Please don't try to help. Just go away and leave me to my fate.

leave high and dry

Idiom(s): leave sb high and dry

Theme: ABANDONMENT

to leave someone unsupported and unable to maneuver; to leave someone helpless.(Informal.)
• All my workers quit and left me high and dry.
• All the children ran away and left Billy high and dry to take the blame for the broken window.

leave hanging in midair

Idiom(s): leave someone or something hanging in midair AND keep someone or something hanging in midair

Theme: WAITING

to suspend dealing with someone or something; to leave someone or something waiting to be finished or continued.
• She left her sentence hanging in midair.
• She left us hanging in midair when she paused.
• Tell me the rest of the story. Don't leave me hanging in midair.
• Don't leave the story hanging in midair.

leave for dead

Idiom(s): leave sb for dead

Theme: ABANDONMENT

to abandon someone as being dead. (The abandoned person may actually be alive.)
• He looked so bad that they almost left him for dead.
• As the soldiers turned—leaving the enemy captain for dead—the captain fired at them.

leave a lot to be desired

Idiom(s): leave a lot to be desired

Theme: LACKING

to be lacking something important; to be inadequate. (A polite way of saying that something is bad.)
• This report leaves a lot to be desired.
• I'm sorry to have to fire you, Mary, but your work leaves a lot to be desired.

leave a bad taste in one's mouth

Idiom(s): leave a bad taste in one's mouth

Theme: MEMORY

[for someone or something] to leave a bad feeling or memory with someone. (Informal.)
• The whole business about the missing money left a bad taste in his mouth.
• It was a very nice party, but something about it left a bad taste in my mouth.
• I'm sorry that Bill was there. He always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

absent without leave

Idiom(s): absent without leave AND AWOL

Theme: ABSENCE

absent from a military unit without permission; absent from anything without permission. (AWOL is an abbreviation. This is a serious offense in the military.)
• The soldier was taken away by the military police because he was absent without leave.
• John was AWOL from school and got into a lot of trouble with his parents.

leave oneself wide open to

leave a sinking ship

Idiom(s): desert a sinking ship AND leave a sinking ship

Theme: ABANDONMENT

to leave a place, a person, or a situation when things become difficult or unpleasant. (Rats are said to be the first to leave a ship that is sinking.)
• I hate to be the one to desert a sinking ship, but I can't stand it around here anymore.
• There goes Tom. Wouldn't you know he'd leave a sinking ship rather than stay around and try to help?

French leave

To take French leave is to leave a gathering without saying goodbye or without permission.

Gardening leave

(UK) If someone is paid for a period when they are not working, either after they have given in their notice or when they are being investigated, they are on gardening leave.