gap year

[ gap-yeer ]

/ ˈgæp ˌyɪər /

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noun

a period of time, usually an academic or calendar year, in which a student takes a break from school to travel, work, or volunteer, typically after ending high school and before starting college.

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Origin of gap year

First recorded in 1975–80; gap + year

Words nearby gap year

gapped scale, gapper, gap phenomenon, gapping, gap-toothed, gap year, gar, garage, garage band, garageman, garage sale

How to use gap year in a sentence

In straight relationships with an age gap, words like ‘gold-digger’ and ‘trophy wife’ get thrown around.
Freaking Out About Age Gaps in Gay Relationships Is Homophobic|Samantha Allen|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
However, more than 20 players on the ballot this year were probably worthy of being enshrined in Cooperstown.
Conservative Curt Says His Politics, Not His Pitching, Kept Him Out of the Hall of Fame|Ben Jacobs|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The influential al Qaeda propagandist, who was born in New Mexico, died in a U.S. drone strike later that year.
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers|Nico Hines|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Eric Garcetti succeeded Villaraigosa and has received high marks in his first year and a half on the job.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races|David Freedlander|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Grindr introduced the feature themselves in October the same year and called it ‘tribes.’
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In the year of misery, of agony and suffering in general he had endured, he had settled upon one theory.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
The great plague of this and the subsequent year broke out at St. Giles, London.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
Twice a year the formal invitation was sent out by the old nobleman to his only son, and to his two nephews.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
After about the forty-fifth year it becomes gradually less; after seventy-five years it is about one-half the amount given.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The clink of the stone-masons' chisels had resounded year after year from morning till night.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills

British Dictionary definitions for gap year

gap year

noun

British a year's break taken by a student between leaving school and starting further education

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012