ABANDONED

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does abandoned mean? 

• ABANDONED (adjective)
  The adjective ABANDONED has 2 senses:

1. forsaken by owner or inhabitants

2. unrestrained and uninhibited

  Familiarity information: ABANDONED used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ABANDONED (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Forsaken by owner or inhabitants

Synonyms:

abandoned; derelict; deserted

Context example:

weed-grown yard of an abandoned farmhouse

Similar:

uninhabited (not having inhabitants; not lived in)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Unrestrained and uninhibited

Context example:

an abandoned sadness born of grief

Similar:

uninhibited (not inhibited or restrained)

 Context examples 

Giving him private directions to seek the society of Mrs. Crupp, and to remove the “young gal” to the basement also, I abandoned myself to enjoyment.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

And 91 years after abandonment, abandoned fields had 73% of the plant diversity and 53% of the plant productivity.

(Plant biodiversity struggles to return in wake of agricultural abandonment, National Science Foundation)

At the very moment when he had abandoned the fight, the tide turned.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The effects of the Eldgjá eruption must have been devastating for the young colony on Iceland – very likely, land was abandoned and famine severe.

(Volcanic eruption influenced Iceland’s conversion to Christianity, University of Cambridge)

During the 9th century however, there was a major political collapse in the central Maya region: their famous limestone cities were abandoned and dynasties ended.

(Scientists measure severity of drought during the Maya collapse, University of Cambridge)

Dr. Roylott then abandoned his attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And so, as he abandoned his rush at her and braced himself to avoid the contact, she sprang upon him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Seeing me, she roused herself: she made a sort of effort to smile, and framed a few words of congratulation; but the smile expired, and the sentence was abandoned unfinished.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Inspector Baynes, considering that such a visit must have some purpose in view and was likely, therefore, to be repeated, abandoned the house but left an ambuscade in the shrubbery.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

After that we abandoned all attempt at communication.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)