n.
- A day free from work that one may spend at leisure, especially a day on which custom or the law dictates a halting of general business activity to commemorate or celebrate a particular event.
- A religious feast day; a holy day.
- Chiefly British. A vacation. Often used in the phrase on holiday.
To pass a holiday or vacation.
[Middle English holidai, holy day, from Old English hālig dæg : hālig, holy; see holy + dæg, day; see day.]
holidayer hol'i·day'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.