abandon

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♦ aban|don /əb'ændən/ (abandons abandoning abandoned)
1 [VERB] V n, V-ed
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.
2 [VERB] V n
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
3 [VERB] V n
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
4 [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 spent money with gay abandon...
5
see also abandoned
6 [PHRASE] v inflects
If people abandon ship, they get off a ship because it is sinking.

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