ticket of leave

American  

Or ticket-of-leave

noun

British.

• tickets of leave
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tickets of leave
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of ticket of leave

First recorded in 1725–35

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ticket of leave

The cashier regarded me as if I had offered a ticket of leave rather than an order for the considerable amount of seventy-five dollars.

From Campaigns of a Non-Combatant, and His Romaunt Abroad During the War by George Alfred Townsend

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 William Charles Wentworth

"Do you remember—what you said—about—about—the ticket of leave?" she said.

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

He is in a very bad way—curious, too; he looks like a cross between a ticket of leave man and a gentleman.

From A Tale of a Lonely Parish by F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford

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

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

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