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definitions

holiday

[hol-i-dey]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR holiday ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

adjective

of or relating to a festival; festive; joyous: a holiday mood.
suitable for a holiday: holiday attire.

verb (used without object)

Chiefly British. to vacation: to holiday at the seaside.

Origin of holiday

before 950; Middle English; Old English hāligdæg. See holy, day
Related formspre·hol·i·day, adjective

Synonyms for holiday

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR holiday ON THESAURUS.COM
2. vacation, break.

Holiday

[hol-i-dey]

noun

BillieLady Day, 1915–59, U.S. jazz singer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for holiday

festivity, recess, festival, feast, anniversary, vacation, break, layoff, gala, celebration, leave, fete, fiesta, liberty, jubilee

Examples from the Web for holiday

Contemporary Examples of holiday

Historical Examples of holiday

  • The office had been closed, owing to a death, and Palmer was in possession of a holiday.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • They would have a holiday together, and then they would say good-bye.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • Won't your Professor give you a holiday from—is it microbes you study?

  • It makes a holiday in Colchis whenever such a thing happens.

    Tanglewood Tales

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • It was holiday for the horses of the Sun, and away they went.

    Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew

    Josephine Preston Peabody

British Dictionary definitions for holiday

holiday

noun

(often plural) mainly British
  1. a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreationUS and Canadian word: vacation
  2. (as modifier)a holiday mood
a day on which work is suspended by law or custom, such as a religious festival, bank holiday, etcRelated adjective: ferial

verb

(intr) mainly British to spend a holiday

Word Origin for holiday

Old English hāligdæg, literally: holy day

Holiday

noun

Billie. real name Eleanora Fagan; known as Lady Day. 1915–59, US jazz singer
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
Word Origin and History for holiday
n.

1500s, earlier haliday (c.1200), from Old English haligdæg "holy day; Sabbath," from halig "holy" (see holy) + dæg "day" (see day); in 14c. meaning both "religious festival" and "day of recreation," but pronunciation and sense diverged 16c. As a verb meaning "to pass the holidays" by 1869.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with holiday

holiday

see busman's holiday.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.