[leave flat] <v. phr.>, <informal> To quit or leave suddenly without warning when wanted or needed; desert; forsake; abandon. * /Sam found that being a member of the trail-clearing group was a lot of hard work, so he left them flat./ * /My car ran out of gas and left me flat, ten miles from town./ Compare: LEAVE IN THE LURCH, WALK OUT(2).

[leave hanging] or [leave hanging in the air] <v. phr.> To leave undecided or unsettled. * /Because the committee could not decide on a time and place, the matter of the spring dance was left hanging./ * /Ted's mother didn't know what to do about the broken window, so his punishment was left hanging in the air until his father came home./ Compare: UP IN THE AIR.

[leave high and dry] See: HIGH AND DRY.

[leave holding the bag] or [leave holding the sack] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To cause (someone) not to have something needed; leave without anything, * /In the rush for seats, Joe was left holding the bag./ 2. To force (someone) to take the whole responsibility or blame for something that others should share. * /When the ball hit the glass, the team scattered and left George holding the bag./ * /After the party, the other girls on the clean-up committee went away with their dates, and left Mary holding the bag./

[leave in the lurch] <v. phr.> To desert or leave alone in trouble; refuse to help or support. * /The town bully caught Eddie, and Tom left him in the lurch./ * /Bill quit his job, leaving his boss in the lurch./ Compare: LEAVE FLAT, HIGH AND DRY(2), WALK OUT(2).

[leave it at that] <v. phr.> To avoid further and more acrimonious disagreement; not argue or discuss any further. * /Our opinion on health care is obviously different, so let's just leave it at that./

[leave no stone unturned] <v. phr.> To try in every way; miss no chance; do everything possible.
– Usually used in the negative. * /The police will leave no stone unturned in their search for the bank robbers./ Compare: ALL OUT, BEND HEAVEN AND EARTH, FINE-TOOTH COMB.

[leave off] <v.> To come or put to an end; stop. * /There is a high fence where the school yard leaves off and the woods begin./ * /Don told the boys to leave off teasing his little brother./ * /Marion put a marker in her book so that she would know where she left off./ Contrast: TAKE UP.

[leave one's mark] <v. phr.> To leave an impression upon; influence someone. * /Tolstoy never won the Nobel Prize, but he left his mark on world literature./ See: MAKE ONE'S MARK.

[leave open] <v. phr.> To remain temporarily unsettled; subject to further discussion. * /Brad said that the question of health insurance would be left open until some future date./

[leave out] <v. phr.> To skip; omit. * /The printer accidentally left out two paragraphs from Alan's novel./

[leave out in the cold] See: OUT IN THE COLD.

[leave out of account] <v. phr.> To fail to consider; forget about. * /The picnic planners left out of account that it might rain./ Contrast: TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.

[leave-taking] See: TAKE ONE'S LEAVE.

[leave the matter open] See: LEAVE OPEN.

[leave well enough alone] See: LET WELL ENOUGH ALONE.

[leave without a leg to stand on] See: LEG TO STAND ON.

[leave word with] <v. phr.> To leave a message. * /Hank left word with his secretary where he could be reached by phone while he was away from his office./

[left] See: OUT IN LEFT FIELD, RIGHT AND LEFT.

[left field] <n.> 1. The part of a baseball out-field to the batter's left. * /Right-handed batters usually hit to left field./ Compare: CENTER FIELD, RIGHT FIELD. 2. See: OUT IN LEFT FIELD.
– [left fielder] <n.> The player in baseball who plays in left field. * /The scoreboard in the ball park is on the fence behind the left fielder./

[left-handed] <adj.>, <informal> 1. Using the left hand habitually. 2. Crooked; phoney; homosexual. * /Morris is such a left-handed guy./ 3. Clumsy; untoward; awkward. * /Grab that hammer and stop acting so left-handed./

[left-handed compliment] An ambiguous compliment which is interpretable as an offense. * /I didn't know you could look so pretty! Is that a wig you're wearing?/

[left-wing] <adj.> That which is or belongs to a group of people in politics that favors radical change in the direction of socialism or communism. * /The left-wing faction called for an immediate strike./

[leg] See: ON ONE'S LAST LEGS, PULL ONE'S LEG, SHAKE A LEG, TAIL BETWEEN ONE'S LEGS.

[legal age] or [lawful age] The age at which a person is allowed to do a certain thing or is held responsible for an action. * /In most states the legal age for voting is 27./ * /He could not get a driver's license because he was not of lawful age./

[leg man] <n.>, <informal> 1. An errand boy; one who performs messenger services, or the like. * /Joe hired a leg man for the office./ 2. <slang>, <semi-vulgar>, <avoidable> A man who is particularly attracted to good looking female legs and pays less attention to other parts of the female anatomy. * /Herb is a leg man./