Meaning of French leave | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A departure taken quietly and unnoticed, without asking for permission or informing anyone.
   dated, idiomatic, informal, uncountable
2. Desertion or temporary absence from duty or service without permission; absence without leave, AWOL.
   dated, euphemistic, idiomatic, informal, specifically, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“As for Ditton, after all his courting, and his compliment, he ſtole avvay an Iriſhman's bride, and took a French leave of me and his maſter; […]”

“he may have felt a particular need to mitigate the responsibility of those who shirked their duty, for as he wrote that letter he had just returned from French leave himself.”

CEFR level