Library / English Dictionary

DESERTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility

Example:

his abandonment of his wife and children left them penniless

Synonyms:

abandonment; defection; desertion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("desertion" is a kind of...):

withdrawal (the act of withdrawing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "desertion"):

abscondment; decampment (the act of running away secretly (as to avoid arrest))

absence without leave; unauthorized absence (unauthorized military absence)

deviationism (ideological defection from the party line (especially from orthodox communism))

Derivation:

desert (leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of giving something up

Synonyms:

abandonment; desertion; forsaking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("desertion" is a kind of...):

rejection (the act of rejecting something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "desertion"):

exposure (abandoning without shelter or protection (as by leaving an infant out in the open))

apostasy; tergiversation (the act of abandoning a party for cause)

bolt (a sudden abandonment (as from a political party))

Derivation:

desert (desert (a cause, a country or an army), often in order to join the opposing cause, country, or army)

Credits

 Context examples: 

My friends, then, were still alive, and though I partly believed the truth of Silver's statement, that the cabin party were incensed at me for my desertion, I was more relieved than distressed by what I heard.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Add to this double apprehension the mystery that still hung over the behaviour of my friends, their unexplained desertion of the stockade, their inexplicable cession of the chart, or harder still to understand, the doctor's last warning to Silver, Look out for squalls when you find it, and you will readily believe how little taste I found in my breakfast and with how uneasy a heart I set forth behind my captors on the quest for treasure.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)