# vacation

/veɪˈkeɪʃən/ (US) · /veɪkˈeɪʃən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/vacation
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 2. time off work or school

noun · CEFR A2 · American English

a period when you do not have to go to work or school.

For teachers: a scheduled period during which regular work or educational duties are suspended.

- The students are looking forward to their summer vacation after the final exams.
- The company policy allows employees to accrue two weeks of paid vacation for every year of continuous service.

### 3. official break

noun · CEFR B2 · Formal

a time when a court or university stops its normal business for a break.

For teachers: a formal recess or period during which the regular business of a university or a court of law is suspended.

- The high court is currently in vacation and will not hear new cases until next month.
- During the long summer vacation, the university campus is largely deserted except for a few postgraduate researchers.

### 4. leaving a property

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

the act of moving out of a building or room.

For teachers: the act of leaving or surrendering occupancy of a physical space or position.

- The landlord requested the vacation of the apartment by the end of the month.
- The sudden vacation of the office building left the city center with a significant amount of unleased commercial real estate.

### 5. legal cancellation

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical · American English

the act of making a legal judgment or deal not valid anymore.

For teachers: the act of rendering a legal judgment, decree, or contract void or set aside.

- The lawyer filed for a vacation of the previous court order due to new evidence.
- The appellate court's vacation of the lower court's ruling sent shockwaves through the local legal community.

### 6. gaming ban

noun · CEFR C1 · Slang

a permanent ban from a gaming service for cheating.

For teachers: an enforced and often permanent exclusion from a gaming platform resulting from a violation of terms.

- He got a vacation from the server after the moderators caught him using cheats.
- After the anti-cheat software detected unauthorized modifications, his account was handed a permanent vacation from the community forums.

### 7. to take a holiday

verb · CEFR B1 · American English

to go somewhere for a holiday.

For teachers: to spend a period of time away from home for the purpose of recreation.

- They usually vacation in the mountains during the winter to go skiing.
- The family chose to vacation in a remote coastal village to escape the noise and stress of the metropolitan area.

Usage: intransitive verb

## Examples

- We are planning a long vacation to the mountains this summer.
- After working sixty hours a week for three months, she finally took a two-week vacation to recharge.
- The high court's summer vacation allows judges and legal staff to process administrative backlogs before the new term commences in the autumn.

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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.