Leaf vs. Leave: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
'Leaf' is the green, photosynthetic part of a plant, while 'leave' is a verb meaning to go away from a place or to permit.
Key Differences
A leaf is a typically green, flat structure of a plant, attached to a stem and known for its role in photosynthesis. 'Leave', as a verb, implies the action of departing from a place or allowing something to happen or remain.
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Leaves are critical components of plants, participating in processes like transpiration and gas exchange. The word 'leave', depending on its context, can also mean to grant permission or to cause something to remain.
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In botany, the study of leaves, including their shapes, sizes, and types, is a significant part of understanding plant biology. 'Leave' has several grammatical forms, including its past tense 'left', and is used in various expressions like 'leave behind', 'leave out', etc.
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The term 'leaf' can also be used metaphorically, as in 'turning over a new leaf', which means to start anew. Similarly, 'leave' can have idiomatic uses, such as 'leave no stone unturned', indicating thorough exploration or investigation.
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Comparison Chart
Basic Definition
Green, photosynthetic part of a plant
To go away from a place or permit something
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Idiomatic Uses
"Turning over a new leaf" (starting anew)
"Leave no stone unturned" (thorough search)
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Variations
Different shapes, sizes in plants
Different forms (leave, left, leaving)
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Leaf and Leave Definitions
Leaf
A green, flat structure of a plant that aids in photosynthesis.
Each leaf on the tree turns bright red in the fall.
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Leave
To go away from a place or person.
She decided to leave the office early today.
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Leaf
A thin, flat, hinged or removable part of a table used to extend its surface.
We added a leaf to the dining table for the guests.
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Leave
To allow to remain in a place or condition.
Leave the door open, please.
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Leaf
A part of a clover representing a unit.
He found a four-leaf clover, a symbol of good luck.
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Leaf
A usually green, flattened, lateral structure attached to a stem and functioning as a principal organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in most plants.
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Leave
To have as a result, consequence, or remainder
The car left a trail of exhaust fumes. Two from eight leaves six.
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Leave
To cause or allow to be or remain in a specified state
Left the lights on.
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Leaf
The leaves of a plant used or processed for a specific purpose
Large supplies of tobacco leaf.
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Leaf
Any of the sheets of paper bound in a book, each side of which constitutes a page.
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Leave
To give over to another to control or act on
Leave all the details to us.
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Leave
To remove oneself from association with or participation in
Left the navy for civilian life.
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Leaf
A hinged or otherwise movable section of a folding door, shutter, or gate.
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Leave
To give or deposit, as for use or information, upon one's departure or in one's absence
He left a note for you. Leave your name and address.
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Leaf
The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
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Leaf
A sheet of a book, magazine, etc (consisting of two pages, one on each face of the leaf).
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Leave
(transitive) To cause or allow (something) to remain as available; to refrain from taking (something) away; to stop short of consuming or otherwise depleting (something) entirely.
I left my car at home and took a bus to work.
The ants did not leave so much as a crumb of bread.
There's not much food left. We'd better go to the shops.
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Leave
To cause, to result in.
The lightning left her dazzled for several minutes.
Infantile paralysis left him lame for the rest of his life.
She left disappointed.
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Leave
(transitive) To put; to place; to deposit; to deliver, with a sense of withdrawing oneself.
Leave your hat in the hall.
We should leave the legal matters to lawyers.
I left my sewing and went to the window to watch the falling snow.
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Leaf
A moveable panel, e.g. of a bridge or door, originally one that hinged but now also applied to other forms of movement.
The train car has one single-leaf and two double-leaf doors per side.
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Leave
To let be or do without interference.
I left him to his reflections.
I leave my hearers to judge.
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Leaf
(botany) A foliage leaf or any of the many and often considerably different structures it can specialise into.
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Leave
(transitive) To depart from; to end one's connection or affiliation with.
I left the country and I left my wife.
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Leave
(transitive) To end one's membership in (a group); to terminate one's affiliation with (an organization); to stop participating in (a project).
I left the band.
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Leave
(intransitive) To depart; to go away from a certain place or state.
I think you'd better leave.
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Leave
(transitive) To transfer possession of after death.
When my father died, he left me the house.
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Leave
(transitive) To give (something) to someone; to deliver (something) to a repository; to deposit.
I'll leave the car in the station so you can pick it up there.
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Leave
(transitive) To transfer responsibility or attention of (something) (to someone); to stop being concerned with.
Can't we just leave this to the experts?
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Leaf
(transitive) To divide (a vegetable) into separate leaves.
The lettuce in our burgers is 100% hand-leafed.
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Leaf
A colored, usually green, expansion growing from the side of a stem or rootstock, in which the sap for the use of the plant is elaborated under the influence of light; one of the parts of a plant which collectively constitute its foliage.
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Leaf
A special organ of vegetation in the form of a lateral outgrowth from the stem, whether appearing as a part of the foliage, or as a cotyledon, a scale, a bract, a spine, or a tendril.
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Leave
(transitive) To give leave to; allow; permit; let; grant.
We were not left go to the beach after school except on a weekend.
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Leaf
Something which is like a leaf in being wide and thin and having a flat surface, or in being attached to a larger body by one edge or end;
They were both determined to turn over a new leaf.
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Leaf
To shoot out leaves; to produce leaves; to leave; as, the trees leaf in May.
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Leave
(cricket) The action of the batsman not attempting to play at the ball.
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Leaf
A sheet of any written or printed material (especially in a manuscript or book)
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Leave
(billiards) The arrangement of balls in play that remains after a shot is made (which determines whether the next shooter — who may be either the same player, or an opponent — has good options, or only poor ones).
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Leave
Permission to be absent; time away from one's work.
I've been given three weeks' leave by my boss.
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Leaf
Look through a book or other written material;
He thumbed through the report
She leafed through the volume
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Leave
Permission.
Might I beg leave to accompany you?
The applicant now seeks leave to appeal and, if leave be granted, to appeal against these sentences.
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Leave
(dated) Farewell, departure.
I took my leave of the gentleman without a backward glance.
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Leaf
A single sheet of paper in a book or other publication.
She turned the leaf of her notebook to a blank page.
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Nov 17, 2023
Leaf
To produce leaves; a budding or unfolding of leaves.
In spring, the trees begin to leaf out.
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Leave
To withdraw one's self from; to go away from; to depart from; as, to leave the house.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.
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Leave
To let remain unremoved or undone; to let stay or continue, in distinction from what is removed or changed.
If grape gatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes ?
These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Besides it leaveth a suspicion, as if more might be said than is expressed.
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Leave
To cease from; to desist from; to abstain from.
Now leave complaining and begin your tea.
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Leave
To desert; to abandon; to forsake; hence, to give up; to relinquish.
Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
The heresies that men do leave.
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Leave
To let be or do without interference; as, I left him to his reflections; I leave my hearers to judge.
I will leave you now to your gossiplike humor.
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Leave
To put; to place; to deposit; to deliver; to commit; to submit - with a sense of withdrawing one's self from; as, leave your hat in the hall; we left our cards; to leave the matter to arbitrators.
Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way.
The footThat leaves the print of blood where'er it walks.
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Leave
To have remaining at death; hence, to bequeath; as, he left a large estate; he left a good name; he left a legacy to his niece.
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Leave
To cause to be; - followed by an adjective or adverb describing a state or condition; as, the losses due to fire leave me penniless; The cost of defending himself left Bill Clinton with a mountain of lawyers' bills.
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Leave
To cease; to desist; to leave off.
Leave off, and for another summons wait.
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Leave
Liberty granted by which restraint or illegality is removed; permission; allowance; license.
David earnestly asked leave of me.
No friend has leave to bear away the dead.
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Leave
The act of leaving or departing; a formal parting; a leaving; farewell; adieu; - used chiefly in the phrase, to take leave, i. e., literally, to take permission to go.
A double blessing is a'double grace;Occasion smiles upon a second leave.
And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren.
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Leave
The period of time during which you are absent from work or duty;
A ten day's leave to visit his mother
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Leave
The act of departing politely;
He disliked long farewells
He took his leave
Parting is such sweet sorrow
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Leave
Go away from a place;
At what time does your train leave?
She didn't leave until midnight
The ship leaves at midnight
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Leave
Go and leave behind, either intentionally or by neglect or forgetfulness;
She left a mess when she moved out
His good luck finally left him
Her husband left her after 20 years of marriage
She wept thinking she had been left behind
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Oct 19, 2023
Leave
Act or be so as to become in a specified state;
The inflation left them penniless
The president's remarks left us speechless
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Leave
Leave unchanged or undisturbed or refrain from taking;
Leave it as is
Leave the young fawn alone
Leave the flowers that you see in the park behind
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Oct 19, 2023
Leave
Move out of or depart from;
Leave the room
The fugitive has left the country
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Leave
Make a possibility or provide opportunity for; permit to be attainable or cause to remain;
This leaves no room for improvement
The evidence allows only one conclusion
Allow for mistakes
Leave lots of time for the trip
This procedure provides for lots of leeway
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Leave
Result in;
The water left a mark on the silk dress
Her blood left a stain on the napkin
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Leave
Remove oneself from an association with or participation in;
She wants to leave
The teenager left home
She left her position with the Red Cross
He left the Senate after two terms
After 20 years with the same company, she pulled up stakes
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Leave
Put into the care or protection of someone;
He left the decision to his deputy
Leave your child the nurse's care
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Leave
Leave or give by will after one's death;
My aunt bequeathed me all her jewelry
My grandfather left me his entire estate
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Leave
Have left or have as a remainder;
That left the four of us
19 minus 8 leaves 11
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Leave
Be survived by after one's death;
He left six children
At her death, she left behind her husband and 11 cats
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Leave
Tell or deposit (information) knowledge;
Give a secret to the Russians
Leave your name and address here
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Leave
Leave behind unintentionally;
I forgot my umbrella in the restaurant
I left my keys inside the car and locked the doors
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Leave
To give permission or a possibility.
The rule leaves room for exceptions.
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Nov 17, 2023
Leave
To cause to remain as a remainder or after-effect.
The storm left the city in chaos.
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Leave
To entrust or commit to someone's care.
I'll leave the keys with my neighbor.
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Repeatedly Asked Queries
Are leaves only green?
Most leaves are green, but they can be other colors, especially in autumn.
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Can leave be used as a noun?
Yes, in contexts like 'on leave' from work, it is a noun.
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Is there a plural for leave?
As a verb, 'leave' doesn't change in plural, but as a noun, it's 'leaves'.
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What does leave mean?
Leave means to depart from a place or to permit something.
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What is the function of a leaf?
A leaf functions in photosynthesis, transpiration, and gas exchange.
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Nov 17, 2023
How is leave used in formal language?
'Leave' can be formal, as in requesting permission to depart.
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Nov 17, 2023
What does 'leave behind' mean?
'Leave behind' means to forget to take something or someone with you.
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What is a leaf made of?
A leaf is made of various cells including chloroplasts for photosynthesis.
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What does 'leave out' mean?
'Leave out' means to exclude something or someone.
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Can leaf be used in cooking?
Yes, some leaves like bay leaves are used in cooking.
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What does 'leave no stone unturned' mean?
It means to do everything possible to find something or to solve a problem.
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Is leaf used in literature?
Yes, 'leaf' is often used metaphorically in literature.
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Can leaf refer to something other than plant leaves?
Yes, it can refer to pages in a book or parts of a table.
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Do all plants have leaves?
Most plants have leaves, but some, like cacti, have modified structures.
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What is 'maternity leave'?
Maternity leave is time off work granted to a woman about to have a baby.
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What is the structure of a leaf?
A leaf typically has a blade, petiole, and can have different vein patterns.
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Nov 17, 2023
Can leave be used in different tenses?
Yes, 'leave' can be used in present, past, and continuous forms.
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What is the life span of a leaf?
It varies, but typically a seasonal cycle for deciduous plants.
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How is leave used in military terms?
In military terms, leave refers to time off from service duties.
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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