French leave

American  

[french leev] / ˈfrɛntʃ ˈliv /

noun

1. Sometimes Offensive. a departure without saying goodbye, asking permission, or giving notice.

   During the Civil War, many men deserted or took French leave.

   Early in the wedding reception I had to take French leave to address a family crisis.

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French leave British  

noun

1. an unauthorized or unannounced absence or departure

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Etymology

Origin of French leave

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

My efforts at French leave me at once inert and exhausted, as though I’ve been dog-paddling in a pool of standing water.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 1, 2016

Spain sent Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to make the French leave Florida.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

They had hardly expected the predawn arrival; but then, they had hardly expected their President to stir up such a fuss in Canada that he would have to take French leave and hurry home.

From Time Magazine Archive

Furious, Michelangelo took French leave of Rome, and it was seven months before he was reconciled.

From Time Magazine Archive

We must take it with French leave, or let it alone.”

From The History of Margaret Catchpole A Suffolk Girl by Cobbold, Richard