I must love you and leave you

idiom

British, informal
—used to say that one has to leave
I don't want to miss the last train, so I'm afraid I must love you and leave you.

Browse Nearby Words

imu
I must love you and leave you
in-
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“I must love you and leave you.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/I%20must%20love%20you%20and%20leave%20you. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Superb Owl Words

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things
See More

Popular Features

See More

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

9 Superb Owl Words

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
clapperboard-popcorn
Hollywood Lingo Quiz Are you a showbiz whiz?
See All