leaving, vbl. n.
(ˈliːvɪŋ)
[f. leave v. + -ing2.]
1. The action of the vb. leave in various senses. Also in Comb. with advs., as leaving-off.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 350 For leevyng of dedis of charite shulde he noþing be blamed. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 38 And yet yf he lefte yt vnsayde he shulde synne more greuosly, what shall he then do syth he synneth bothe in the doyng & in the leueynge. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 27 b, Not carnally vnderstandynge this rewarde, for than, for the leuyng of one wyfe thou sholdest haue an hondred wyues. 1539 Tonstall Serm. Palm Sund. (1823) 97 To the Thessalonicense he writeth..Pray without any day leauynge of. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 27 Never..suffer them to begin their Scafflings in the morning, but before their leaving of their work. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. iv. (1840) 85 They..went in by ways of their own leaving. 1834 Sir W. Napier Penins. War xiv. iv. (Rtldg.) II. 250 His leaving of Mr. Stuart without instructions. 1861 Trench 7 Ch. Asia 77 The suggestion that this leaving of the first love can refer to the abating of any other love. |
2. concr. † a. sing. What is left; remainder, residue, remains.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter Cant. 496, I soght þe lefynge of my ȝeris. c 1425 Crafte of Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 18 Medye þat þe quych leues after þe takyinge away of þat þat is odde, þe quych leuynge schalle be 3. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xlviii. 468 To aleyn token they Ageyn the leveng Of that fisch In Certeyn. 1596 B. Griffin Fidessa (1876) 35, I am no leauing of al-withering age. |
b. pl. in the same sense (
Cf. L.
reliquiæ, which the
Eng. word often translates in early examples.)
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xvi. 16 Þai left þaire leuyngis till þaire smale. 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 97 Off the levenges of whiche cite, after the seyenge of Seynte Ierom, ij. cities were made in Persida. 1526 Tindale Mark viii. 20 Howe many baskettes of the leavinges of broken meate toke ye up. 1552 Huloet, Leuynges or thinges left, reliquiæ. 1555–8 T. Phaer æneid iii. F iv, The leauinges of Achilles wyld. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Fanfreluches, riffe raffe, the leauings or shreds of any thing. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roaring Girl iii. ii, To dine on my scraps, my leavings. 1646 W. Jenkyn Remora 28 Shall God have Satans leavings? 1672 Dryden Conq. Granada i. i. Dram. Wks. (1725) 34 Now you have but the Leavings of my Will. 1686 A. Horneck Crucif. Jesus v. 72 The poorer sort..carried the leavings or fragments home. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 215 Truly, she'd have none of Polly's Leavings; no, not she! c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art II. 74 The student should make it a rule to save the leavings of his colours. 1834 Macaulay Biog., Pitt (1866) 178 He gave only the leavings of his time and the dregs of his fine intellect. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. 5 His master let him have a pull at the leavings of his beer. 1867 M. Arnold Sonn. Immortality Poems 1877 I. 262 And will not, then, the immortal armies scorn The world's poor routed leavings? 1884 Graphic 23 Aug. 207/2 Their leavings—what they did not touch—made a luxurious supper for all my waiters. |
† c. leaving out: what has been left out, omitted matter.
Obs.| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxii. ¶8 He may perhaps get a small word..into the foregoing Line; and..another..in the following Line, which if his Leaving out is not much, may Get it in. |
3. attrib.,
esp. in the sense of leaving school or college, as in
leaving certificate,
leaving examination,
leaving scholarship;
leaving-age, the age at which a pupil is legally entitled to leave school;
leaving-book, (at Eton) a book presented by friends on the occasion of one's ‘leaving’;
leaving-shop (
slang), an unlicensed pawnshop. Also
leaving-off time, the time of ceasing work.
| 1943 J. Graves Policy & Progress Secondary Educ. xix. 125 The curriculum would vary according to the normal *leaving age and the different interests and abilities of the children. |
| 1878 Symonds Shelley 15 Hogg says that his Oxford rooms were full of handsome *leaving books, and that he was frequently visited by old Etonian acquaintances. 1879 Mem. Cath. & Crauford Tait 483 His popularity at Eton was attested by the exceptionally large number of leaving-books he got from his friends. |
| 1884 Times (weekly ed.) 26 Sept. 4/1 No German or Saxon can enter the mining School at Freiberg..unless he have obtained a *leaving certificate at a gymnasium or a first-class Real School. 1892 Daily News 30 June 5/3 The Leaving Certificate Examination. 1914 ‘I. Hay’ Lighter Side School Life i. 24 Oxford and Cambridge Locals..or, in Scotland, the Leaving Certificate. 1923 J. D. Hackett in Management Engineering May, Leaving Certificate, a card given to laid-off employees, entitling them to consideration when work is resumed. 1963 J. Fountain in B. James Austral. Short Stories 275 Brilliant passes in the Intermediate and Leaving Certificate examinations. 1971 Guardian 2 July 7/4 With an examination reform which provides a leaving certificate..raising the school-leaving age to 16 would be a failure. |
| 1893 Athenæum 21 Oct. 555/2 For all schools a common *leaving examination. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 26 Aug. 10/2 It is the usual practice at *leaving-off time on Saturdays for the workmen..to cease work at once. |
| 1889 Nation (N.Y.) 7 June 464/1 This sum includes the ‘*leaving’ scholarship given by the Clothworkers' Company. |
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. ii. xii, Upon the smallest of small scales, she was an unlicensed pawnbroker, keeping what was popularly called a *Leaving Shop, by lending insignificant sums on insignificant articles of property deposited with her as security. 1888 Spectator 7 July 942 The ‘leaving-shop’, or illicit pawnbroker, almost frustrates attempts at protective legislation for the poor. |