LEAVE OF ABSENCE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does leave of absence mean? 

• LEAVE OF ABSENCE (noun)
  The noun LEAVE OF ABSENCE has 1 sense:

1. the period of time during which you are absent from work or duty

  Familiarity information: LEAVE OF ABSENCE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEAVE OF ABSENCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The period of time during which you are absent from work or duty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

leave; leave of absence

Context example:

a ten day's leave to visit his mother

Hypernyms ("leave of absence" is a kind of...):

time off (a time period when you are not required to work)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "leave of absence"):

furlough (a temporary leave of absence from military duty)

pass ((military) a written leave of absence)

compassionate leave ((military) leave granted in an emergency such as family sickness or death)

sabbatical; sabbatical leave (a leave usually taken every seventh year)

liberty; shore leave (leave granted to a sailor or naval officer)

sick leave (a leave of absence from work because of illness)

terminal leave (final leave before discharge from military service)

 Context examples 

If you please, sir, I want leave of absence for a week or two.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

William had obtained a ten days' leave of absence, to be given to Northamptonshire, and was coming, the happiest of lieutenants, because the latest made, to shew his happiness and describe his uniform.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

His leave of absence will soon expire, and he must return to his regiment.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I mentioned to Mr. Spenlow in the morning, that I wanted leave of absence for a short time; and as I was not in the receipt of any salary, and consequently was not obnoxious to the implacable Jorkins, there was no difficulty about it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He stood his chance for the rest; wrote up for leave of absence, but without waiting the return, travelled night and day till he got to Portsmouth, rowed off to the Grappler that instant, and never left the poor fellow for a week.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Having resolved to do it without loss of time, as his leave of absence extended only to the following Saturday, and having no feelings of diffidence to make it distressing to himself even at the moment, he set about it in a very orderly manner, with all the observances, which he supposed a regular part of the business.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Mr. Rochester had given me but one week's leave of absence: yet a month elapsed before I quitted Gateshead.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

When I heard of this approaching ceremony, I was so anxious to see them all come in, one after another, though I knew the greater part of them already, and they me, that I got an hour's leave of absence from Murdstone and Grinby's, and established myself in a corner for that purpose.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

There could be no doubt of his obtaining leave of absence immediately, for he was still only a midshipman; and as his parents, from living on the spot, must already have seen him, and be seeing him perhaps daily, his direct holidays might with justice be instantly given to the sister, who had been his best correspondent through a period of seven years, and the uncle who had done most for his support and advancement; and accordingly the reply to her reply, fixing a very early day for his arrival, came as soon as possible; and scarcely ten days had passed since Fanny had been in the agitation of her first dinner-visit, when she found herself in an agitation of a higher nature, watching in the hall, in the lobby, on the stairs, for the first sound of the carriage which was to bring her a brother.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)