holiday
noun
a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.
holiday
1 American
[hol-i-day]
/ ˈhɒl ɪˌdeɪ /
noun
-
holidays
plural
-
a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person.
-
any day of exemption from work (distinguished from working day).
-
a time or period of exemption from any requirement, duty, assessment, etc..
New businesses may be granted a one-year tax holiday.
-
a religious feast day; holy day, especially any of several usually commemorative holy days observed in Judaism.
-
Chiefly British. Sometimes holidays. a period of cessation from work or one of recreation; vacation.
-
an unintentional gap left on a plated, coated, or painted surface.
adjective
-
of or relating to a festival; festive; joyous.
a holiday mood.
-
suitable for a holiday.
holiday attire.
verb (used without object)
-
holidays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
holidayed,
past participle, past
-
holidaying
present participle
Holiday
2
American
[hol-i-day]
/ ˈhɒl ɪˌdeɪ /
noun
holiday
1
British
/ ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ, -dɪ /
noun
-
(often plural)
-
US and Canadian word: vacation. a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation
-
( as modifier )
a holiday mood
-
-
a day on which work is suspended by law or custom, such as a religious festival, bank holiday, etc
verb
Holiday
2
British
/ ˈhɒlɪˌdeɪ /
noun
holiday
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
holidaysimple
-
holidayssimple
-
have holidayedperfect
-
has holidayedperfect
-
am holidayingprogressive
-
are holidayingprogressive
-
is holidayingprogressive
-
have been holidayingperfect progressive
-
has been holidayingperfect progressive
Past
-
holidayedsimple
-
had holidayedperfect
-
was holidayingprogressive
-
were holidayingprogressive
-
had been holidayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of holiday
First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English hāligdæg; equivalent to holy + day
Explanation
A holiday celebrates a person, anniversary, religious belief or other occasion. You might observe the Indian holiday of Holi, and take a week off of work to celebrate with your family. A holiday is an occasion recognized by the state or federal government and marked on calendars, like Thanksgiving in the United States. Most holidays are celebratory and fun, and just about all of them mean no work or school. You can also take a holiday, or vacation. Holiday comes from "holy" and "day," meaning a religious festival, and the word was even pronounced that way until the sixteenth century.
Vocabulary lists containing holiday
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A surprisingly strong U.S. economy sustained its vigor on the verge of the holiday shopping season, a pair of S&P surveys showed, as businesses hired more workers to keep up with rising customer demand.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
Factory orders will offer clues to the strength of domestic and overseas demand, while the nonmanufacturing survey, covering services and construction, will show whether National Day holiday spending helped lift services activity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
In early August 2024, he was on holiday at the Atlantica Mare resort in Cyprus, as riots took place in England following the murders of three girls in Southport.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
At least one analyst thinks Kohl’s could become a “big winner” this holiday season as the retailer continues to revamp its in-house brands.
From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026
It was my staple thank-you, get well soon, any holiday, and most often goodbye card and could be modified to almost any animal.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
It is modelled on the School Holiday Food Grant scheme introduced during the pandemic, which paid qualifying families £27 per child every fortnight.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Holiday spending on travel and services offers a gauge of consumer demand, which remains weak amid a persistent property slump and subdued confidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Holiday flights can be among the biggest travel expenses of the year.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
When asked if the team was ready to face Birmingham, Holiday suddenly got excited.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Even relatively liberal-minded Porter, though, could not match the devastating impact of the Abel Meeropol song ‘Strange Fruit’, recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Also, Amazon to hire 300,000 workers for the holidays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
For the majority of North Koreans, holidays are out of reach.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
It appealed to teachers and students, workers, pensioners and farmers to take part in the protests on the first day of half-term holidays.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
Research suggests cousin relationships are often built at large family gatherings—weddings, holidays, reunions—and as older generations disappear, so can those regular meetups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
During weekends and school holidays, the four of us were inseparable, racing in and out of each other’s yards and making up games on the fly.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
The arrival of such futuristic designs marks a sharp departure from how we have traditionally holidayed.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
He had holidayed with Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and made connections with Mark Burnett, the TV produce of the Apprentice, the show that sparked Trump's rise to power.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2025
She maintains she was cautious around travel to places, including Spain, and that many people holidayed at home.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2024
In a video statement issued from the hospital, he appeared to be in good spirits and said he had holidayed at the Sea of Galilee without properly protecting himself from a heatwave.
From Reuters ● Jul. 16, 2023
Our entire family, dad, mum, my two brothers and I, had holidayed at their place a year earlier.
From Free from School by Rahul Alvares
A British national of Iraqi birth, Saad al-Hilli was holidaying with his family in the picturesque countryside of Lake Annecy in eastern France.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
After holidaying on narrowboats, Andy Brown said it was "a fairly easy decision" for him and his wife to move into one post-retirement.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
Speaking to AFP by phone, a Moscow resident holidaying in Feodosia on Crimea's southeastern coast said earlier this week that "everyone is afraid: locals and visitors alike."
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
Three people died after the rare rat-borne hantavirus spread through passengers holidaying on the MV Hondius cruise ship, sparking a global health scare.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
The earliest account we have of a Lethifold was written by the wizard Flavius Belby, who was fortunate enough to survive a Lethifold attack in 1782 while holidaying in Papua New Guinea.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
