bank holiday
Americannoun
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a weekday on which banks are closed by law; legal holiday.
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British. a secular day on which banks are closed, obligations then falling due being performable on the following secular day.
noun
Etymology
Origin of bank holiday
First recorded in 1870–75
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.
People have been urged to take precautions near water after at least eight people, mostly children, drowned over the bank holiday weekend while trying to stay cool during the heat wave.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
In Surrey, Leatherhead Lions Club said its annual bank holiday donkey derby would no longer include the donkeys or a dog show "for the welfare and comfort of the animals".
From BBC • May 25, 2026
Assistant Chief Constable Colin McFarlane said: "This is a devastating incident which has resulted in the death of a young woman while on a night out during the bank holiday weekend in Sheffield."
From BBC • May 25, 2026
The soaring temperatures could also lead to new national May temperature records being set on bank holiday Monday.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
And how better spend a wet bank holiday than in arranging them properly—bringing parted couples together, adjusting involuntary divorces, reuniting the separated members of families and tribes?
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 147, August 12, 1914 by Seaman, Owen, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
