hol·i·day (hŏl'ĭ-dā')
n.

1. 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.
2. A religious feast day; a holy day.
3. Chiefly British. A vacation. Often used in the phrase on holiday.

intr.v. Chiefly British, -dayed, -day·ing, -days.
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.

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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.

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