by your leave

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See also: by-your-leave

English

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Prepositional phrase

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by your leave

  1. With your permission.

Noun

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by your leave (plural by your leaves)

  1. Request for permission.
    • 1897, Shanghai Mercury, Shanghai by Night and Day: Illustrated by 23 Reproductions from Photographs. Vol. I.
      The natives have gathered on the top of every grave mound near by and though many resent the riding over their fields without a so much as a 'By your leave' []
    • 1946, Konstantin Trenev, In a Cossack Village, and Other Stories
      He picked flowers without so much as a 'by your leave.'
    • 1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Ex-Leper (Michael Palin):
      One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by-your-leave!
    • 1986, Judith A. Jance, Trial by Fury
      'To a place you've broken into without so much as a by-your-leave, to say nothing of a search warrant?'

Usage notes

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Alternative forms

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See also

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