use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

leave 1 (lēv)
Share:
v. left (lĕft), leav·ing, leaves
v.tr.
1. To go out of or away from: not allowed to leave the room.
2.
a. To go without taking or removing: left my book on the bus.
b. To omit or exclude: left out the funniest part of the story.
3. To have as a result, consequence, or remainder: The car left a trail of exhaust fumes. Two from eight leaves six.
4. To cause or allow to be or remain in a specified state: left the lights on.
5.
a. To have remaining after death: left a young son.
b. To bequeath: left her money to charity.
6. To give over to another to control or act on: Leave all the details to us.
7.
a. To abandon or forsake: leave home; left her husband.
b. To remove oneself from association with or participation in: left the navy for civilian life.
8.
a. To give or deposit, as for use or information, upon one's departure or in one's absence: He left a note for you. Leave your name and address.
b. To cause or permit to be or remain: left myself plenty of time.
9. Nonstandard To allow or permit; let.
v.intr.
To set out or depart; go: When can you leave?
Phrasal Verb:
leave off
1. To stop; cease.
2. To stop doing or using.
Idioms:
leave/let alone
To refrain from disturbing or interfering.
leave no stone unturned
To make every possible effort.

[Middle English leaven, from Old English lǣfan; see leip- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

leaver n.

Usage Note: In formal writing leave is not an acceptable substitute for let in the sense "to allow or permit." Thus in the following examples, only let should be used: Let me be. Let him go. Let us not quarrel. This use of leave is normally edited out of written prose but remains common in speech. · Leave alone is an acceptable substitute for let alone in the sense "to refrain from disturbing or interfering with." As far back as 1968, a majority of the Usage Panel approved the following example: Leave him alone, and he will produce. Some people feel that leave alone should mean simply "to depart from someone who remains in solitude," as in They were left alone in the wilderness. There is no harm in observing this restriction, but expecting it of others is unrealistic.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
leave 2 (lēv)
Share:
n.
1. Permission to do something. See Synonyms at permission.
2. An act of departing; a farewell: took leave of her with a heavy heart.

[Middle English leve, from Old English lēafe, dative and accusative of lēaf; see leubh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
leave 3 (lēv)
Share:
intr.v. leaved, leav·ing, leaves
To put forth foliage; leaf.

[Middle English leaven, from leaf, leaf; see LEAF.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.