ticket of leave

American

Or ticket-of-leave

noun

British.

(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.

ticket of leave British

noun

(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

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

tickets of leave

plural

Etymology

Origin of ticket of leave

First recorded in 1725–35

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

ticket of leave

The Penal Servitude Act was passed in 1850, and under it the much-condemned ticket of leave came into operation.

From About London by J. Ewing (James Ewing) Ritchie

It just—came to me—that day in the schoolroom when you talked about the ticket of leave.

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

Those to whose names the letter T is also prefixed having previously obtained a ticket of leave releasing them from a state of servitude.

From Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 2 by Thomas Mitchell

He was invested with full powers, in fact, to qualify himself for Botany Bay; and I promised to forward his views towards a ticket of leave if the worst were to happen him.

From One Of Them by Charles James Lever

But from the looks of things, I rather guess I’m in for a ticket of leave.

From Killykinick by Mary T. (Mary Theresa) Waggaman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023