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

"If the French leave, there will be no protection," he says.

From Time Magazine Archive

This time Father Claude Rains is a sort of early-bird Enoch Arden, vagabonding back to mother and the girls after 20 years of French leave just as mother is fixing to marry again.

From Time Magazine Archive

Many persons on board had never been back to Louisville since they took French leave of the same place; whilst others had numerous friends and relations whom they greatly desired to see.

From Project Gutenberg book of Historical Romance of the American Negro by Fowler, Charles H.