n. 25B6; noun
his wife's desertion of him : ABANDONMENT, leaving, jilting.
the desertion of the president's colleagues : DEFECTION; betrayal, renunciation, repudiation, apostasy; formal abjuration.
soldiers were executed for desertion : ABSCONDING, running away, truancy, going absent without leave, taking French leave, escape; defection, treason; Military going AWOL.