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

See Examples For:

French leave

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

The uproar began when Paris discovered that the gunboats and their Israeli crews had taken French leave of their fitting-out berths in Cherbourg.

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

She had been sent on an errand from Sisterhood House to the nearest village, and rather than return had simply—as she expressed it—"taken French leave."

From Lord John in New York by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson