Library / English Dictionary

VACATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of making something legally void

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("vacation" is a kind of...):

abrogation; annulment; repeal (the act of abrogating; an official or legal cancellation)

Derivation:

vacate (cancel officially)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure

Example:

we took a short holiday in Puerto Rico

Synonyms:

holiday; vacation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("vacation" is a kind of...):

leisure; leisure time (time available for ease and relaxation)

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

half-term (a short vacation about halfway through a school term)

vac; vacay (informal term for vacation)

field day; outing; picnic (a day devoted to an outdoor social gathering)

honeymoon (a holiday taken by a newly married couple)

paid vacation (a vacation from work by an employee with pay granted)

Derivation:

vacation (spend or take a vacation)

vacationist (someone on vacation; someone who is devoting time to pleasure or relaxation rather than to work)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Spend or take a vacation

Synonyms:

holiday; vacation

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "vacation" is one way to...):

pass; spend (use up a period of time in a specific way)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "vacation"):

honeymoon (spend a holiday after one's marriage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

vacation (leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure)

vacationer (someone on vacation; someone who is devoting time to pleasure or relaxation rather than to work)

vacationing (the act of taking a vacation)

vacationist (someone on vacation; someone who is devoting time to pleasure or relaxation rather than to work)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"Yes, you can have a vacation from school, but I want you to study a little every day with Beth," said Mrs. March that evening.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Manuscript readers and editors were away on vacation, and publications that ordinarily returned a decision in three weeks now retained his manuscript for three months or more.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

My vacations had all been spent at school: Mrs. Reed had never sent for me to Gateshead; neither she nor any of her family had ever been to visit me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Thus the holidays lagged away, until the morning came when Miss Murdstone said: “Here's the last day off!” and gave me the closing cup of tea of the vacation.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

One day, however, when the autumn was far advanced and the vacation drawing to a close, I received a telegram from my friend imploring me to return to Donnithorpe, and saying that he was in great need of my advice and assistance.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Venus will move into Pisces on January 13, staying until February 7, which will give you the ideal time to take a vacation or business trip.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

"I never enjoyed housekeeping, and I'm going to take a vacation today, and read, write, go visiting, and amuse myself."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The editors and readers were back from their summer vacations, and manuscripts were being handled quickly.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I had nothing else to do, because it was the vacation, and I sat at them from morning till noon, and from noon till night: the length of the midsummer days favoured my inclination to apply.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

In my dread of the end of the vacation and their coming back, I could not read a boy's name, without inquiring in what tone and with what emphasis HE would read, “Take care of him. He bites.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)