abandon, desert, forsake, leave, give up 这些动词或词组均含“抛弃、放弃”之意。
abandon 强调永远或完全放弃或抛弃人或事物等，这可能是被迫的，也可能是自愿的。
- 命运宠爱勇敢者，但是抛弃胆小者。我们最好还是开始干起来，别再闲荡了。
Fortune favors the bold, but abandons the timid. We'd better get started and stop fiddling about. - But they quickly abandoned the idea after recognizing the political peril if the idea leaked to the press — or to their boss.
但他们很快就放弃了这个想法，因为他们意识到，这个想法若是让媒体或他们的老板知道，会带来政治风险。
——《纽约时报》
desert 着重指违背法律责任和义务，或自己的信仰与誓言的行为，多含非难的意味。
- 她被丈夫遗弃了。
She was deserted by her husband.
forsake 侧重断绝感情上的依恋，自愿抛弃所喜欢的人或物，尤指在他人需要时不履行责任，也可以指抛弃信仰或摒弃恶习（forsake a bad habit ），比如：
-
尽管他们的整个婚姻都是在做戏，但他明确地向妻子说，永远不离开她。
He had made it clear to his wife that he would never forsake her, even though their whole marriage had been a charade. -
她抛开城市的绚烂，去一个宁静的乡间小镇居住。
She forsook the glamour of the city and went to live in a sedate country town.
leave 普通用词，指舍弃某事或某一职业，或终止同一某人的关系，但不涉及动机与果。
- 我那爱张扬的秘书以辞职相要挟。
My flamboyant secretary has threatened to leave.
give up 普通用语，侧重指没有希望或因外界压力而放弃。
- 海岸警卫队对两位潜水员生还已完全不抱希望。
Coastguards had given up all hope of finding the two divers alive.
