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Glite Dictionary
to leave it at that

to leave it at that

46 5.3
To stop talking about an issue and accept it as it is
  • phrasal verb
: dejarlo así
  • Let's just leave it at that and move on to the next topic.
  • just leave it at that

Yeah, yeah, let's leave it at that, OK?

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Examples

Synonyms

to back off
vsto leave it at that
  • Informal
443 2.8

Move away from someone, or stop taking part in something

means stop discussing and accept rather than purely retreating physically
to let it go
vsto leave it at that
280 3.5

To choose not to react to something annoying

chooses to stop discussing and accept without further action
that's that
vsto leave it at that
  • Informal
255 5.1

A final decision that cannot be changed or discussed

marks final acceptance of the situation rather than only ending talk
to say no more
vsto leave it at that
  • Informal
23 4.9

To stop talking because more words are not needed or would not be right

stops discussion while also accepting the situation as it is
to let it ride
vsto leave it at that
11 7.0

Allow a situation to continue without changing it

chooses to stop pursuing the topic rather than actively intervening
to leave it be
vsto leave it at that
  • Informal
10 5.1

To let something stay as it is without changing it

involves stopping discussion and accepting the situation unchanged
to drop the topic
vsto leave it at that
1 3.3

To stop talking about a subject

stops discussion and accepts the situation without more action

Antonyms

to discuss
∞ 1.6

To talk with other people about something, often in detail

to pursue
877 3.5

To try to get something you want, like a job or a goal

How Final

to close the book on
  • Informal
7 5.3
to leave it at that
46 5.3

Surface Forms

leave it at that infinitive
leaving it at that present participle
leaves it at that third person singular
left it at that past
left it at that past participle

Morphology

leave + it + at + that

The sense 'stop discussing or pursuing a topic' is directly derivable from combining 'leave' (to leave something as it is) with 'it' (the matter) and 'at that' (to that point/extent), so the overall meaning follows a compositional limitative pattern. This structure is common cross-linguistically and uses frequent, literal words, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely understand it.

Etymology

The phrase leave it at that gives a simple picture: you put something down and do not touch it again, so you literally leave it at that place. That's why it means 'stop discussing' or 'accept it as it is'.