# holiday

/ˈhɑɫəˌdeɪ/ (US) · /hˈɒlɪdˌeɪ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/holiday
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. time off for travel/rest

noun · CEFR A1 · British English

a period of time when you travel or rest away from work or school.

For teachers: a period of leisure and recreation, typically involving travel away from home. Often used in the plural in British English.

- We are going on holiday to Spain for two weeks this summer.
- The family spent their annual holiday hiking through the Lake District, enjoying the rare stretch of clear weather.

Usage: Commonly takes the preposition 'on'.

### 2. public celebration day

noun · CEFR A2

a special day when most people do not work, like Christmas or a national day.

For teachers: a specific day designated by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of an event.

- Monday is a public holiday, so the banks and post offices will be closed.
- The government declared a national holiday to celebrate the team's unexpected victory in the world championship.

### 3. payment break

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a period of time when you are allowed to stop making regular payments.

For teachers: a contractually agreed period during which a borrower is permitted to suspend regular repayments.

- The bank offered a three-month mortgage holiday to help people during the crisis.
- Under the terms of the loan agreement, the startup was granted a repayment holiday for the first six months of operation.

Usage: Often appears in the compound 'repayment holiday' or 'mortgage holiday'.

### 4. to take a vacation

verb · CEFR B2 · British English

to spend your time away from home for fun or rest.

For teachers: to spend a period of time away from one's usual residence for recreation. Intransitive use.

- The couple usually holiday in the south of France during the autumn.
- Having holidayed in the same coastal village for twenty years, they felt more like locals than tourists.

Teaching tip: While common in British English as a verb, American English speakers almost exclusively use 'vacation' as the verb form.

## Examples

- We are going on holiday to Spain this summer.
- Most employees receive twenty days of paid holiday per year in addition to public bank holidays.
- The statutory right to a minimum period of annual holiday ensures that workers maintain a healthy work-life balance, preventing burnout and sustaining long-term productivity across the industrial sector.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.