definitions

shore leave

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shore leave ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Navy.

permission to spend time ashore, usually 48 hours or more, granted a member of a ship's company.
the time spent ashore during such leave.

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RELATED WORDS

furlough, leave, liberty

Nearby words

shore bird, shore bug, shore crab, shore dinner, shore fly, shore leave, shore patrol, shore terrace, shore up, shorebird, shorefront

Origin of shore leave

First recorded in 1905–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shore leave

  • But, to return, Mulholland answered my request for shore-leave with a soothing smile.

    The Deluge|David Graham Phillips

  • It was not all shore-leave, but there was skittles now and then for the deserving and good-conduct men.

    Pike & Cutlass|George Gibbs

  • We had, all of us, already over-stayed our shore-leave by many hours.

    Tramping on Life|Harry Kemp

  • There is no accounting, ever, for the ways of shore-leave sailor-men.

    Told in the East|Talbot Mundy

British Dictionary definitions for shore leave

shore leave

noun navy

permission to go ashoreCompare liberty (def. 5)
time spent ashore during leave
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