leave out
phr. v.. B1 Intermediate Oxford
phr. v.. to not include someone or something; to omit a part of something.
phr. v.. to exclude or omit (a person, thing, or detail) from a group, list, or text; transitive phrasal verb with separable particles.
Don't leave out the important details.
The teacher asked the students not to leave out any steps in the experiment.
The editor decided to leave out the controversial paragraph to maintain the book's neutrality.
- Particles
- out
- Separability
- separable
- Pattern
- leave + out + object or leave + object + out
Usage
takes a direct object — the thing or person being excluded.
Teaching tip
contrast with 'exclude' (more formal) and 'omit' (more academic); 'leave out' is separable, allowing both 'leave the details out' and 'leave out the details'.