national holiday

American  

noun

1. a holiday that is observed throughout a nation.

2. a holiday that is legally established by a national government rather than by a municipal or state government.

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Etymology

Origin of national holiday

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

National holiday or no, banks and stores stayed open in Vicksburg.

From Time Magazine Archive

The great masses of the liberty loving people who were wont to celebrate this National holiday of Independence in a manner befitting the occasion, began to think.

From The Pullman Boycott A Complete History of the R.R. Strike by Burns, W. F.

Jubilees.—Strange as it may appear to the men of the present day, there has never been a National holiday yet kept equal to that known as the Jubilee Day of George the Third.

From Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham A History and Guide Arranged Alphabetically by Harman, Thomas T.

About the first of July, there were rumors that an insurrection would be attempted on the National holiday.

From Camp-Fire and Cotton-Field Southern Adventure in Time of War. Life with the Union Armies, and Residence on a Louisiana Plantation by Knox, Thomas Wallace

National holiday: This entry gives the primary national day of celebration—usually independence day.

From The 1999 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency