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• laissez-passer
  laissez-passer

  noun

  a permit; pass, especially one issued in lieu of a passport.
• laissez passer
  laissez passer

  noun

  a document granting unrestricted access or movement to its holder

laissez-passer

American  

[les-ey-pa-sey, le-sey-pah-sey] / ˈlɛs eɪ pæˈseɪ, lɛ seɪ pɑˈseɪ /

noun

• laissez-passers,
  plural
• laissez-passer
  plural

1. a permit; pass, especially one issued in lieu of a passport.

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laissez passer British  

/ lese pase /

noun

1. a document granting unrestricted access or movement to its holder

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• laissez-passer
  plural
• laissez-passers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of laissez-passer

< French: literally, allow to pass

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

laissez-passer laissez passer laissez-passers

He carried a laissez-passer from the Eritrean government, allowing him a one-time entry into the country.

From New York Times ● Aug. 31, 2016

Unsuccessful asylum-seekers often cannot be sent back to their home countries if they do not have passports, and getting laissez-passer paperwork recognized often takes a long time.

From Reuters ● Oct. 23, 2015

In a joint letter to the foreign ministers of six Balkan countries, seen by Reuters, de Maiziere and Steinmeier asked them to accept so-called "laissez-passer" documents.

From Reuters ● Oct. 23, 2015

Strauss-Kahn has a laissez-passer travel document issued by the United Nations.

From BusinessWeek ● Jun. 16, 2011

The following morning I set out anew from Zain Shabi, having in my pocket the laissez-passer of Bezrodnoff for his outposts.

From Beasts, Men and Gods by Ferdinand Ossendowski

The famous axiom, laissez faire, and laissez passer, the subversive tendencies of which people affect to condemn, was not invented by Quesnay.

From Principles Of Political Economy by John J. (John Joseph) Lalor

We have been wrong, says Rossi, in reproaching Quesnay for his famous laissez faire, laissez passer, which is pure science.

From Principles Of Political Economy by John J. (John Joseph) Lalor

This point alone should suffice to differentiate Jefferson's system from physiocracy, since the Physiocrats had adopted as their motto the famous laissez faire laissez passer and were certainly in favor of free trade.

From Thomas Jefferson The Apostle of Americanism by Gilbert Chinard

I had all my papers in order—my passport, my "laissez passer," a letter from Mr. Bevan, explaining who I was and asking for "every facility" for me, and my photograph, properly stamped.

From My War Experiences in Two Continents by Betty Keays-Young Salmon

Breaking with the traditions of the old régime, they take for their motto "laissez faire, laissez passer".

From The Stages in the Social History of Capitalism by Henri Pirenne

Her hands were steady; she was even smiling as she produced two neat little packets that, on being unfolded, proved to have all the air of permits, laissez-passers, and police cards.

From The Firefly of France by Marion Polk Angellotti