To allow oneself to enjoy something fully. On the chilly fall day, Maria abandoned herself to the comforts of hot tea and a warm blanket. Sorry, I didn't hear you come in—I guess I'd abandoned myself to my painting. On the beach, I do nothing but abandon myself to the warmth of the sun and the crash of the waves.

A message warning one about a hopeless situation from which there is no return. The Italian version of this phrase appears in Dante's Divine Comedy as the inscription on the entrance to Hell. The phrase is most often used humorously. I'll never forget my first day as an intern and the sign above my cubicle that said, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." Well, that board meeting was incredibly pointless and unproductive. We should have started things off by quoting Dante: "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." That spooky old house might as well say "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" outside! Only a fool would buy it.

A message warning one about a hopeless situation from which there is no return. The Italian version of this phrase appears in Dante's Divine Comedy as the inscription on the entrance to Hell. The phrase is most often used humorously. More commonly translated as "abandon hope, all ye who enter here." I'll never forget my first day as an intern and the sign above my cubicle that said, "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." Well, that board meeting was incredibly pointless and unproductive. We should have started things off by quoting Dante: "All hope abandon, ye who enter here." That spooky old house might as well say "All hope abandon, ye who enter here" outside! Only a fool would buy it.

With great haste and having only personal well-being in mind. (Typically said of people who begin abandoning something or someone that is failing or about to fail.) I knew the business was doomed when employees started quitting en masse, like rats abandoning a sinking ship. Like rats abandoning a sinking ship, the disgraced athlete's corporate sponsors began pulling their sponsorships one after another.

The least loyal, trustworthy, or dependable people will be the first to begin abandoning a failing endeavor. Times of crisis will test the loyalty of the people you've hired. Rats abandon a sinking ship, while the people worth holding onto the most will stay until the very end.

With rash, unrestrained impulsiveness, enthusiasm, or zeal. Ever since my brother got that car for his birthday, he's been motoring around at night with gay abandon. The insurgents set upon the town and began firing their weapons with gay abandon.

With rash, unrestrained impulsiveness, enthusiasm, or zeal. Ever since my brother got that car for his birthday, he's been motoring around at night with reckless abandon. The insurgents set upon the town and began firing their weapons with reckless abandon.

With rash, unrestrained impulsiveness, enthusiasm, or zeal. Ever since my brother got that car for his birthday, he's been motoring around at night with wild abandon. The insurgents set upon the town and began firing their weapons with wild abandon.

Prov. If you come in, be prepared for the worst. (Describes a hopeless situation or one somehow similar to hell. Often used jocularly. This is the English translation of the words on the gate of Hell in Dante's Inferno.) This is our cafeteria. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here!

to yield to the comforts or delights of something. The children abandoned themselves to the delights of the warm summer day.

to leave a person, living creature, or thing to the care of someone or something; to give up someone or something to someone or something. (Usually with the thought that the abandoned person or thing will not receive the best of care.) They had to abandon the dogs to the storm.

Prov. You can tell when something is about to fail because large numbers of people begin to leave it. (Can imply that the people who leave are "rats," that is, selfish and disloyal.) Jill: The company next door must be going bankrupt. Jane: How do you know? Jill: All its employees are resigning. Rats abandon a sinking ship.

COMMON If you jump ship or abandon ship, you leave an organization because you think it is going to fail or because you want to join a rival organization. Landau had jumped ship by the time the company collapsed. For weeks he worked eighteen-hour days, pleading with his staff not to abandon ship. Note: If sailors jump ship, they leave their ship without permission and do not return.

Smart (and disloyal) individuals will desert a failing enterprise before it is too late. This observation was made long ago about rats, which would remain on board devouring a ship’s stores in the hold until the ship foundered in a storm or ran aground; then they would disappear so as not to be drowned. The transfer to human desertion was made before 1600; in some cases it was a ship they abandoned, in others a house about to collapse. “It is the Wisdome of Rats that will be sure to leave a House somewhat before its fall,” wrote Francis Bacon (Essays, 1597).