Found 2 items, similar to French leave.
English → English (WordNet)
Definition: French leave
French leave
n : an abrupt and unannounced departure (without saying
farewell)
English → English (gcide)
Definition: French leave
French
\French\ (fr[e^]nch), prop. a. [AS. frencisc, LL.
franciscus, from L. Francus a Frank: cf. OF. franceis,
franchois, fran[,c]ois, F. fran[,c]ais. See
Frank, a., and
cf.
Frankish.]
Of or pertaining to France or its inhabitants.
[1913 Webster]
French bean (Bot.), the common kidney bean (
Phaseolus vulgaris
).
French berry (Bot.), the berry of a species of buckthorn
(
Rhamnus catharticus), which affords a saffron, green or
purple pigment.
French casement (Arch.) See
French window, under
Window.
French chalk (Min.), a variety of granular talc; -- used
for drawing lines on cloth, etc. See under
Chalk.
French cowslip (Bot.) The
Primula Auricula. See
Bear's-ear.
French fake (Naut.), a mode of coiling a rope by running it
backward and forward in parallel bends, so that it may run
freely.
French honeysuckle (Bot.) a plant of the genus
Hedysarum
(
H. coronarium); -- called also
garland honeysuckle.
French horn, a metallic wind instrument, consisting of a
long tube twisted into circular folds and gradually
expanding from the mouthpiece to the end at which the
sound issues; -- called in France
cor de chasse.
French leave, an informal, hasty, or secret departure;
esp., the leaving a place without paying one's debts.
French pie [French (here used in sense of
“foreign”) +
pie a magpie (in allusion to its black and white color)]
(Zo["o]l.), the European great spotted woodpecker
(
Dryobstes major); -- called also
wood pie.
French polish.
(a) A preparation for the surface of woodwork, consisting of
gums dissolved in alcohol, either shellac alone, or
shellac with other gums added.
(b) The glossy surface produced by the application of the
above.
French purple, a dyestuff obtained from lichens and used
for coloring woolen and silken fabrics, without the aid of
mordants. --Ure.
French red rouge.
French rice, amelcorn.
French roof (Arch.), a modified form of mansard roof having
a nearly flat deck for the upper slope.
French tub, a dyer's mixture of protochloride of tin and
logwood; -- called also
plum tub. --Ure.
French window. See under
Window.
[1913 Webster]
Leave
\Leave\, n. [OE. leve, leave, AS. le['a]f; akin to le['o]f
pleasing, dear, E. lief, D. oorlof leave, G. arlaub, and
erlauben to permit, Icel. leyfi. [root]124. See
Lief.]
1. Liberty granted by which restraint or illegality is
removed; permission; allowance; license.
[1913 Webster]
David earnestly asked leave of me. --1 Sam. xx.
6.
[1913 Webster]
No friend has leave to bear away the dead. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
2. The act of leaving or departing; a formal parting; a
leaving; farewell; adieu; -- used chiefly in the phrase,
to take leave, i. e., literally, to take permission to go.
[1913 Webster]
A double blessing is a'double grace;
Occasion smiles upon a second leave. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while,
and then took his leave of the brethren. --Acts
xviii. 18.
[1913 Webster]
French leave. See under
French.
Syn: See
Liberty.
[1913 Webster]