vacation

1 of 2

noun

va·​ca·​tion vā-ˈkā-shən 

və-

often attributive

1

: a period spent away from home or business in travel or recreation

had a restful vacation at the beach

2

a

: a scheduled period during which activity (as of a court or school) is suspended

b

: a period of exemption from work granted to an employee

3

: a respite or a time of respite from something : intermission

4

: an act or an instance of vacating

vacation

2 of 2

verb

vacationed; vacationing vā-ˈkā-sh(ə-)niŋ 

və-

intransitive verb

: to take or spend a vacation

vacationed at the shore

vacationer

vā-ˈkā-sh(ə-)nər 

və-

noun

Synonyms

Noun

• break
• holiday [chiefly British]
• hols [British]
• leave
• recess

Verb

• holiday

Examples of vacation in a Sentence

Noun

Family vacations were a high point in my childhood.

When are you taking vacation this year?

Employees are entitled to 120 hours of paid vacation.

I don't have any vacation days left.

We have a one-week vacation in February.

The university will be closed for Christmas vacation.

Verb

hoping to vacation in Spain this summer

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Employees could use that personal leave as vacation time or bank the hours and cash out at retirement. —William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 24 June 2025

Madeleine was 3 years old when her family, parents Kate and Gerry McCann and 2-year-old twin siblings, left their home in the U.K. for a vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal. —Angel Saunders, People.com, 24 June 2025

Verb

Conor Bugbee, 32, was vacationing with his family at Camp Richardson in South Lake Tahoe when the sunny afternoon quickly turned. —Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2025

Devin, the passenger who was vacationing with his fiancé’s parents, took a lot of videos of the chaos with his phone, and that footage appears throughout the doc. —Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 24 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English vacacioun, borrowed from Anglo-French vacacion, borrowed from Latin vacātiōn-, vacātiō "exemption from service, respite from work," from vacāre "to be empty, be free, have leisure" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns — more at vacant

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Verb

1883, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing vacation

• long vacation
• vacation home

Rhymes for vacation

• ablation
• bination
• carnation
• cassation
• castration
• causation
• centration
• cessation
• cetacean
• chelation
• citation
• collation

Kids Definition

vacation

1 of 2 noun

va·​ca·​tion vā-ˈkā-shən 

və-

1

: a period during which activity (as of a school) is stopped for a time

2

: a period spent away from home or business in travel or amusement

vacation

2 of 2 verb

vacationed; vacationing

-sh(ə-)niŋ

: to take or spend a vacation

vacationer

-sh(ə-)nər 

noun

Legal Definition

vacation

noun

va·​ca·​tion

1

: a period in which activity or work is suspended

specifically : an interval between judicial terms

2

: an act or instance of vacating

vacation of a judgment