ticket of leave

American  

Or ticket-of-leave

noun

British.

plural

tickets of leave

1. (formerly) a permit allowing a convict to leave prison, under certain restrictions, and go to work before having served a full term, somewhat similar to a certificate of parole.

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ticket of leave British  

noun

1. (formerly in Britain) a permit allowing a convict ( ticket-of-leave man ) to leave prison, after serving only part of his sentence, with certain restrictions placed on him

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Etymology

Origin of ticket of leave

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

When I had been ten years out, I and a comrade of mine, O'Grady, got home on a ticket of leave.

From Faithful Margaret A Novel by Ashmore, Annie

I know what a ticket of leave is.

From The Bars of Iron by Dell, Ethel M. (Ethel May)

"How can hypnotism be like—like a ticket of leave?"

From The Bars of Iron by Dell, Ethel M. (Ethel May)

At best indeed I was only out upon ticket of leave; but that ticket was a pretence; he had made it forfeit when he gave it.

From Apologia pro Vita Sua by Newman, John Henry

It is principally to the introduction of the ticket of leave system that the considerable reductions which have been effected of late years in the expences of the colony are to be ascribed.

From Statistical, Historical and Political Description of the Colony of New South Wales and its Dependent Settlements in Van Diemen's Land With a Particular Enumeration of the Advantages Which These Colonies Offer for Emigration, and Their Superiority in Many Respects Over Those Possessed by the United States of America by Wentworth, William Charles