To give up; renounce; reject.To refuse (a request); deny (a statement).To quit or leave entirely; desert; abandon; depart or withdraw from: as, friends and flatterers forsake us in adversity; fortune forsook him.Synonyms Forsake, Desert, Abandon, Relinquish, Quit. These all express the idea of giving up or leaving. The first three are strong expressions, ordinarily conveying the idea of loss to that which is left; the fourth, on the other hand, suggests loss to him who relinquishes. Forsake is chiefly applied to leaving that by which natural affection or a sense of duty should or might have led us to remain: as, to forsake one's home, friends, country, or cause; a bird forsakes its nest. In the passive it often means left desolate, forlorn. Forsake may be used in a good sense: as, the color forsook her cheeks; even hope forsook him. Desert may be synonymous with forsake, but in the active voice it usually implies a greater degree of culpability, and often the infringement of a legal obligation: as, to desert one's family, regiment, ship, colors, post. Such was the original use of the word. Abandon most fully expresses complete and final severance of connection: as, to abandon a ship or a hopeless undertaking; to abandon hope or property. Sometimes, but not so often as desert or forsake, it implies the dropping of all care or concern for an object: as, to abandon one's offspring Relinquish is not used with a personal object: as, to relinquish a claim, land, effort. (See lists under relinquish and abandon.) To quit is to leave finally or hastily, or both.
