AWL: Abandon
Abandon (verb)
Synonyms: desert, leave, forsake, vacate, walk out on, leave behind, end, cancel, stop, abort, dump, ditch, discard etc.
Antonyms: continue, keep etc.
Meanings
a) leave someone when it is your duty to stay with them and take care of them.
- The woman abandoned her children and eloped with her boyfriend.
- He is a dear friend. I can’t abandon him when he needs my help.
- You shouldn’t have abandoned her. It was so cruel.
b) leave a place, because it might be dangerous to stay there
- The epidemic outbreak in the area forced many people to abandon their homes and flee.
- The village was abandoned during the civil war.
c) leave something in a place because you are in a hurry to leave
- The stolen ornaments were abandoned outside the city.
- We were forced to abandon our vehicles in the snow.
d) stop doing something because it is too difficult to continue
- As I was making little progress I abandoned my attempt to learn French.
- They abandoned the match because it rained.
- This custom was abandoned several centuries ago.
e) stop behaving or talking in a particular way, because it doesn’t help you achieve what you want
- She abandoned caution and went in pursuit of the man who might have abducted her baby.
- The government said that although talks weren’t successful, they hadn’t abandoned their commitment to the peace process.
f) stop supporting somebody
- A true friend is someone who doesn’t abandon you when you need him the most.