abandon

abandon vb 1 Abandon, desert, forsake mean to quit absolutely.

Abandon implies surrender of control or possession often with the implication that the thing abandoned is left to the mercy of someone or something else

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the ghost of grandeur that lingers between the walls of abandoned haciendas in New Mexico— Mary Austin

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in the frantic rush to escape the insane had usually been forgotten and abandoned to horrible deaths— Heiser

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abandoning wife and children, home and business, and renouncing normal morality and humanity— Shaw

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Desert commonly implies previous occupation, companionship, or guardianship and often connotes desolation

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deserted farms growing up to brush

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It often, especially in deserter, desertion, emphasizes violation of duty as guardian or protector and extreme culpability

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deserted by those that should have stood by him

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any person found guilty of desertion . . . shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death— Uniform Code of Military Justice

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Forsake often retains connotation of repudiation, frequently suggests renunciation, and stresses the breaking off of an association with someone or something

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forsake the world and all its pleasures

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she was forsaken at the altar— Deland

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Analogous words: *discard, cast, scrap, junk: reject, repudiate (see DECLINE)

Antonyms: reclaim

Contrasted words: hold, possess, enjoy (see HAVE): shield, safeguard, protect (see DEFEND): redeem, *rescue, save

2 surrender, *relinquish, yield, resign, leave

Antonyms: cherish (hopes, opinions): restrain (oneself)

Contrasted words: *keep, retain: treasure, prize (see APPRECIATE): *maintain, assert, defend: inhibit, bridle, curb (see RESTRAIN)

abandon n *unconstraint, spontaneity

Analogous words: license, *freedom, liberty: relaxation, laxity or laxness, looseness (see LOOSE)

Antonyms: self-restraint

Contrasted words: repression, suppression (see SUPPRESS): self-possession, aplomb (see CONFIDENCE): poise (see BALANCE, TACT)