# abandons

/əˈbændənz/ (US) · /ɐbˈændənz/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/abandons
Updated: 2026-05-01

## Senses

### 1. to leave behind

verb · CEFR B1

to leave a person, place, or thing forever.

For teachers: to desert or leave behind a person, place, or thing with no intention of returning. Transitive; requires a direct object.

- The captain abandons the sinking ship only after every passenger is safe.
- The developer often abandons ambitious projects halfway through when the initial funding begins to dry up unexpectedly.

### 2. to stop doing

verb · CEFR B2

to stop doing something before it is finished.

For teachers: to cease a course of action or an activity permanently.

- The team abandons the search for the lost keys when it gets dark.
- The government usually abandons unpopular policies just before an election to avoid losing the support of moderate voters.

### 3. lack of control

noun · CEFR C1 · Literary

a feeling of being completely free and not caring what others think.

For teachers: a state of acting without restraint or regard for convention. Usually used in the singular, but the plural can appear in literary contexts to describe multiple instances of such behavior.

- The festival was full of wild dances and joyful abandons.
- The poet described the various abandons of the youth, who lived for the moment without a thought for the future.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.